Legend
by 53N0
Summary: Legends, tales of myth and splendor. For some, legends are tales of old, stories that inspire children with dreams of grandeur…but within every legend there is a hint of truth.
1. Chapter 1

"Big Brother!" A girl called. She had short blond hair tied into two pigtails at the back of her head. She wore a blue dress with an orange-petaled sunflower shown on the bottom. She walked throughout a small village on an island surrounded by a massive ocean with two small plateau on it.

As she walked through the island, checking everywhere her brother might be with a telescope, she came to the conclusion that he would be at the tall wooden lookout the village had. While she climbed up the ladder towards the top of the lookout she continued to call "Big Brother!" Once she got to the top she saw her brother. A similarly blond, spiky-haired boy that wore a blue long-sleeve with the design of a white lobster under the collar, and a pair of yellow pants.

He was asleep.

"Big Brother!" She exclaimed, waking him and making him look to the ladder. Though by the time he looked she had already finished climbing up and silently walked behind him. "I knew you'd be here!" She suddenly said.

The boy jumped and turned to her. "Aryll? What's up?" He murmured as he began to rub the sleep from his eyes.

Aryll giggled. "This is my _favorite_ spot to gaze out at the sea." She muttered as she stared out over the ocean. "When I play with the gulls, I call it 'Aryll's Lookout'."

"I know. You don't have to remind me every time sis." The boy said with humor.

Argol just giggled again. "I know." She then turned to him. "So, do you remember what day it is today?"

"What day it is…?" He wondered. "Hmm…I don't remember anything important being today."

Aryll smiled somberly at that. "It's your birthday." She informed him.

"…Oh." He muttered after a significant time of shock, before turning to look at their house from where they stood. "In thirteen now aren't I?" He received a nod. "It's time to go get what Grandma left me, huh?"

Aryll nodded meekly.

With a sigh the boy went to the ladder, but before he began to climb down he paused. "I'll be back after I get Grandma's gift…then we'll play all day."

"…No chores?" Aryll asked.

"No chores, they can wait until tomorrow." He agreed.

"See you in a little bit, big Brother!" Aryll called as he climbed down.

Once he was halfway down the ladder the boy simply jumped off and crouched when he landed to lessen the damage he would've taken. He then ran up the pier to one of the two halves of the island and ran over to the bridges connecting the bottom of the islands, once he was halfway through however something caught his attention.

"'Hoy, Naruto!" A small brown-haired boy called him from the stone middle. He wore a plain white shirt and brown shorts. "Hey, is it true that if you have a little courage and run as fast as you can, then you can jump to that rock out there?" He asked while pointing towards a rock a bit away near the middle of the two plateau.

Naruto paused to consider it before shrugging, he had some time. "How's about I show you?" He asked as he suddenly turned and began jumping from rock to rock until he reached the aforementioned rock.

"Wow!" The boy exclaimed. "I hope I'll be able to do that one day!"

As Naruto jumped back he grinned. "Sure you will, just got to give it some time." He explained. Once he was back to the middle of the bridges he began running along towards his and his sister's home.

He didn't wait for a moment when he got to the door and immediately entered. Once inside he headed towards the ladder leading upstairs and climbed it.

At the top was a small area with four things. A small tree growing in a pot, a wooden shield hanging on the wall, a small shrine with the picture of an aged old woman sitting on it, and, in the corner, a small chest. Before he went to the chest decided to make a small prayer at the shrine to his departed grandmother.

He kneeled before it and clapped his hands together. _Hey Grandma. It's me, Naruto. It's finally the day I become thirteen, the same as the hero in that story you always told us. I'm going to open the gift you left now so I hope you're watching. _With his small prayer finished he stood and went over to the chest. He opened it carefully and picked up its contents.

"…Green clothes?" He wondered, he smiled nostalgically. "…I did say I wanted to be a hero like that one when I grew up…thanks Grandma." He said as he began to change into the clothes.

When he was done he was wearing a dark-green tunic over a light-green long-sleeve shirt, the tunic was a bit big so he tied it down with the belt that came with it. The belt was made of brown leather but had a yellow-painted iron buckle depicting a swirl, their family's symbol. Besides his upper clothing and belt, he also had a pair of white pants that were a bit too big as well, he guessed she wanted them to last, which he rolled up the bottoms of before tucking them into his brown boots.

After looking himself over he decided he looked pretty good and put on he final piece; a green hat that covered his hair. If he hadn't had suck spiky hair that caught on the inside ring of it, it would've fell. As it was the tip of he hat hung down to his shoulders.

"Oh well, I'll grow into them. For now I've got to go show Aryll." He said to himself before running out the door and straight towards the lookout.

XXX XXX

"Hey sis." Naruto called as he reached the top of the lookout.

"Ah!" His sister said while turning to him. "'Hoy, Big Brother!" She then proceeded to look him over. "Grandma made those for you…?" A nod. "Wow…but you look like you'd be way too hot in those…"

"Yeah, I thought so too but they're actually pretty cool." Naruto said wonderingly, how the hell wasn't be getting sunstroke in these?

"I guess they're pretty neat." Aryll corrected. "So, anyway…Can you close your eyes and hold out your hand?" She asked, then quickly added; "Just for a second? I'm going to give you my most treasured belonging…but just for one day!"

Naruto smiled while closing his eyes and holding his hand out. After a moment he felt something land in his hand and grabbed it so it wouldn't fall. "Happy birthday!" He heard his sister call.

"…Your telescope?" He asked after opening his eyes.

"So?" She asked. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah." It was a well-known fact that Aryll never let to of her telescope.

"Ooh!" She suddenly exclaimed. "Why don't you try it out! Right now! Try looking over at our house from here!"

Naruto chuckled before doing so…though he noticed the postman was freaking out about something in the sky. He looked up and saw a massive bird…that was carrying a girl? "What the hell?" He muttered.

A rock suddenly flew past the bird so he turned to where it came from…pirates launching rocks at the bird. "What the hell!?"

"Big brother!" Aryll suddenly yelled while pointing back to where the large bird was. "The bird dropped that girl into the forest! She needs help!"

Naruto stared at her for a moment before nodding. "I'll go get a sword from old man Orca." With that he jumped straight down without bothering to use the ladder, and rather than just crouching when he landed he tucked into a roll before heading to the largest house on the island. He entered on the first floor rather than it's second and immediately saw a aging man holding a harpoon.

The man was balding but what hair he did have was long and white, including his mustache and beard! He had a tattoo of a trident's head on his left arm and didn't wear a shirt. He was still strong of body to the point age hasn't set in on it and just wore a pair of shorts instead.

"Oh, Naruto!" He greeted, then paused at the boy's look. "What's wrong?" He shook his head immediately after and continued. "Whatever it is, from the look on your face I suspect it is no laughing matter…"

"I need to borrow a sword old man." Naruto stated.

"Hmm…? Without proper training?"

"No time." The blond affirmed.

"Then basics at least." Orca stated sternly while heading over to a table he had a sword on, which he proceeded to pick up and toss to the boy. "Your fist lesson shall be the horizontal slice." He them turned to the blond and raised his harpoon. "Do not fear for my safety…I am ready."

Naruto nodded and slung the sword's scabbard over his back, then proceeded to unsheathe it with his left hand and swung.

Orca nodded when Naruto did as told. "Good…now continue until I say."

Naruto gave no reply but continued to swing; twice from across his chest, then doing a spin to hit with more force, and finally spinning back around to hit from the outside.

"Good! Your next lesson is the vertical strike." Naruto repeated his attacks, only this time giving two overhead swings rather than vertical swings from right to left.

"Very good! Next is the thrust!" Now Naruto stabbed his sword forward for the two first strikes and for the last strike he managed to spin hard enough to create the smallest of vacuums…not that he could tell.

Orca smirked. "Next is the spin attack. Build up your strength for a moment and swing all around!" This time Naruto stepped back and put his sword behind him in with hands on it's hilt. After a moment of pause he span and created a slightly larger vacuum than before.

"Very good! Now parry." He raised his harpoon.

Naruto gulped and rolled around Orca when he slammed the harpoon down with the back of the blade first. He didn't want to hurt the old man with his blade so he decided to smack hi with the side of his own sword.

"Good! Now jump!" Feeling what he was being told to do rather than having it explained to him, Naruto jumped toward the old man with his sword raised high above his head.

Orca blocked it with ease. "That was a fine display." He praised the blond with a smile. He then frowned thoughtfully. "And yet…I sense a certain anxiousness in the sword you hold…go. I do not know what has happened…but I have faith that you will not misuse that sword."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks. I won't let you down old man!" He said as he ran out, adding a phrase that settled any worries Orca had. "I promise!"

"Ho Ho." Orca laughed quietly. "Since the olden days that sword has been used to fight off evil…it's blade is infused with the desire to become strong and righteous." He closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer for the boy. "Be strong, Naruto."

Naruto ran across the bridge as quickly as possible and straight up the path towards the bridge leading to the forest. He didn't pause at the sign saying that there was no entry allowed and simply cut down the small trees planted to keep children away. He ran straight across the bridge connecting the two plateau and jumped over the broken planks before entering the cave leading into the forest.

XXX XXX

Once he was inside the forest he could immediately see the girl who fell hanging from a branch her clothes got caught on. "Wow…she's so lucky she didn't fall or she'd have broken her head open like an egg." He shook off his amazement and began to climb the path he'd learned led to where she was when he was younger. Once he was over the first area he saw something and immediately hid behind a tree.

It was a form of pig-man. It had long, pointed ears heading to either side of its head and a horn on its forehead just south of an orange bandana. It had a pig's snout and even two fangs jutting up from it's lower jaw! It was pretty lanky and wore an orange jacket with it's sleeves town off, which was left open to give its a pirate-like feeling. The damn thing wore red pants tied by a rope with a small skull for a buckle too.

"Want the hell is that?" He wondered aloud.

It jumped and turned straight to him.

"Note to self: it's ears are big for a reason." He muttered as it charged at him…without a weapon. "Wow, you really shouldn't have done that." He chastised while simply stabbing his sword through it's stomach.

Surprisingly enough it didn't go down and instead tried to punch him or bite him. In retaliation he kicked it in a part of the stomach that didn't have his sword in it, before stabbing it where the heart would be.

*Bang!* It exploded in a plume of dark energy that soon collapsed in on itself as if it never existed.

"…Okay…" Naruto said blankly before continuing on the path and towards the girl. "The hell is going on here?" He asked himself worriedly.

Once he was in the area where the girl was hanging he heard an odd noise. He looked up to see two vulture-like birds drop two copies of the strange monster he already killed down before him. He didn't bother trying to just stab them through the stomach anymore and simply cut them across their chests a few times before kicking them away. One of them exploded…the other simply got up and continued charging. "What the hell is this shit!?" He demanded as he stabbed the final monster in the chest.

When it exploded into darkness he immediately heard a groan and ran over to the girl hanging from a branch. She immediately began squirming when she realized where she was. "Hold up!" He yelled. She didn't listen and the branch broke. "Damn it." He dived and managed to catch her before she his the ground.

"Huh?" The girl said when he caught her. Now that he saw her up-close he noticed she was a blond like himself, and she had a tan. She wore a blue shirt and jacket, both with the sleeves torn off, with a red bandana tied loosely around her neck. Aside from that she wore baggy white pants tied by a red sash and had bandages tied around her wrists.

"Made it." He sighed out as he held her.

"Uhh…thanks?" The girl said.

He grinned and let her down. "No problem."

"What's with that getup?" She asked after looking him over.

"…My grandma left me this after she died." Naruto replied a bit angrily.

"Oh…sorry." She apologized. "Anyway, where am I…?" Her eyes then widened as she looked to the sky. "That's right! That giant bird came and…!"

"Miss!" Someone suddenly called prompting the two to look towards the entrance. It was a large man with a red bandana on his head. He wore a green long-sleeve with the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm over his large frame, and had pants that matched the girls, even tied by a red sash like hers. "Miss Tetra!" He called as he ran over.

"Gonzo!" The girl, Tetra, greeted.

"Oh! Thank…" He stopped to take a breath as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thank goodness! You're safe! When I saw you were dropped on this summit, I thought for sure you'd…"

"Yeah same here man." Naruto agreed as he stared at Tetra amazedly. "You're lucky as hell your clothes got caught on that branch or…" He dragged a thumb across his throat.

"Summit?" Tetra asked, pointedly ignoring the possibility Naruto presented. "So that bird dropped me on the top of a mountain?"

"It's actually more of a plateau…"

"Well, wasn't that nice of it!" Tetra said sarcastically before running towards the exit. "Well, don't just stand there! Let's go!" She called back when Gonzo didn't move for a moment. "Time to repay our debt to that bird in full!"

Gonzo stared after her before looking at Naruto. "But, miss…What about this boy?" He asked.

"Don't worry about him. Come on!" She ordered.

Gonzo hesitated for a moment before following, joined by Naruto a second after.

XXX XXX

Once they were at the bridge once more they heard a call from someone very familiar to Naruto. "'Hoy, Big Brother!" Aryll called from across the bridge.

Naruto grinned and waved. "Hey sis!" He greeted as she began to cross the bridge…only for the massive bird that had Tetra to swoop in and take her. "Aryll!" He exclaimed.

"Brother!" The girl called from between the bird's talons as it flew off, followed by gulls.

Naruto growled lowly and took off, or at least he tried to. Tetra immediately grabbed his arm and chastised him. "Get ahold of yourself! She's gone. There's nothing you can do."

"Then should I just give up!?" He asked as he continued to struggle.

"No, but killing yourself jumping off a mountain won't help!"

Naruto tried to argue but couldn't make an argument. In the end, he was forced to just stare after the bird that took his sister. "Aryll…" He muttered. "…I'll get you back."

* * *

><p>"What!?" Tetra asked in surprise as she and Gonzo, and another of her pirates that he didn't know the name of, stared at him with wide eyes. "You want to come with us on our ship?"<p>

"Yeah." Naruto answered. "At least until I find where my sister is. I'll figure it out myself from there."

Tetra scowled. "Do you understand what you're asking?" She demanded rhetorically, she continued. "We're pirates! You know…pirates! The terror of the seas! What do we get out of bringing some helpless little kid along with us? I'll tell you what we get…a headache." She glared at him for a moment but he didn't falter. She sighed. "I know how you must feel, with your sister having been kidnapped and all…but that doesn't really have anything to do with us, now does it?"

"And how do you figure that?" A voice suddenly asked. The group of your turned to look at…

"Mister postman?" Naruto asked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there!" Gonzo spoke. "Just who are you?! Where do you get off butting in on someone else's conversation?!" He demanded.

"Please! All I mean to say is that if you big, bad pirates hadn't come to this quiet little island that poor girl wouldn't have been snatched away by that bird." The postman answered.

"And just what do you mean by that?" Tetra asked suspiciously.

"Just be quiet for a moment, and I'll tell you." The postman replied, "Now, as my work entails delivering letters, I spend much of my time traveling amongst the many different islands. As a result, I hear many things…haven't any of you heard word that young girls have been getting kidnapped lately from all regions of the Great Sea?" The four looked clueless so he sighed. "No matter. Whether you've heard it or not, that seems to be the case. Young girls with long ears like yours have been getting kidnapped, never to be seen again. And unless my eyes fail me, the young girl who was just kidnapped from this island also has long ears, does she not? Much like _you_ do, miss fearsome pirate. My point is that the bird mistook that poor girl for you, and that's why it grabbed her!"

"…" Tetra looked abashed and turned her gaze away.

"And correct me if I'm wrong." The Rito continued. "But I believe it was young Naruto here that saved you from the monsters in the forest, wasn't it?"

"You were watching?" Naruto asked.

The postman nodded. "Oh, and while I'm at it…I may as well tell you that the bird that kidnapped both you and Naruto's sister had made its foul nest to the north, on the heights of the Forsaken Fortress."

"The Forsaken Fortress?!" Tetra asked in shock. "Isn't that the place where…"

"So, what are you going to do?" The postman interrupted. "Under the circumstances, I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to give Naruto a little help, now would it?"

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Tetra huffed. "Even if I were to consider it…lately I've heard nothing but evil rumors about the Forsaken Fortress…" She turned to Naruto. "You can't possibly mean to go there with nothing but that cheap little sword! That's not brave! It's stupid!"

"Never said I was smart." Naruto replied without hesitation.

The pirates aside from Tetra gave him small nods of agreement, but their leader still argued. "Come on! Even a simple little island like this has to have something you could use as a shield. You know, something to protect yourself with? Anything?"

"Why do you care?" Naruto asked.

At that the entire group looked at the girl. "Do you think I have the time to haul your corpse back here?" She asked. "So go get something like that, then you can stow away on our ship…oh, and one more thing: once we leave, you won't be coming back here for a while, so you'd better go say good-bye to your family while you have the chance. I don't want you getting all weepy-eyed and homesick on me!"

Naruto's face blanked. He then turned and walked away without a word as the postman began to fidget. "His sister is all the family he has." The postman said before taking off.

"Ouch." The unnamed pirate remarked.

"Shut up Niko!" Tetra growled as she palmed her face.

XXX XXX

Naruto sighed as he entered his home and proceeded to climb the ladder. Once he was finished climbing he took the shield from its place on the wall. He turned to leave but hesitated, turning back to the picture of his departed grandmother and placing a hand on it. _Sorry Grandma._ He lamented. _I couldn't protect Aryll like I promised…some giant bird took her to some place where they say no one ever returns from. Don't worry, I'm going to get her back. I don't know how long it'll take but I'll get her back. _He promised.

"Naruto." A familiar voice called as the door opened.

Naruto turned halfway around to see Orca standing at the door and put the picture of his grandmother down against its shrine before jumping down to greet the old man. "Hey old man, what's up?" His answer was being handed a scroll. "What's this?"

"I feared that one day I would pass without teaching the way of the sword to another, and so I white down all of the techniques I've learned in case the need to learn them ever arose when I was gone." Orca explained. "I believe that you need that more than this island does at that moment. Good luck, Naruto." He said before leaving.

Naruto stared at the door for a moment before looking to the scroll in his hands and opening it. "Iaido?" He read aloud wonderingly, but now wasn't the time. Now he had to go. He placed the scroll into his pocket and walked out with the shield held by his sword's scabbard.

XXX XXX

"Wow, that's a decrepit old shield…are you sure you can still use that thing? Are you going to get splinters and cry?" Tetra taunted when he returned. "Well, whatever…if you're ready, then lets go!"

"Right." Naruto said as they all climbed aboard the ship and set sail.

"Good luck, Naruto!" He heard the other villagers call as they sailed. He looked back over the railing of the ship and saw them all standing there in a group, waving at him. He waved back for a bit before a voice that he was starting to associate with annoyance spoke up.

"Ugh…How much longer is this going to go on, do you think? Do you you have an estimate?" Tetra asked from beside him. "Are you sure you shouldn't just quit right now? Seriously, think about it. I can tell you're going to get more sentimental from here on out."

Naruto glared at her.

"There's still time, you know…are you sure we shouldn't just turn around and take you back to your island?" She asked.

"I swear to the gods, I'm gonna kill her by the end of this trip." Naruto grumbled.

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah, it's been a while. Sorry for no updates but I admitted to procrastinating a lot so me not updating for a week or two will happen sometimes. A heads up, I'm going to write this entire fic with no stops. Luckily it'll only take about…a month at most, two if I'm a bit slow. <strong>

**Quick note, not bashing Tetra/Zelda but she was a bit condescending in the beginning and I'm not writing that out just to make her look better. **

**Now for the pairing…it's one of three girls who'll be shown through the story. One is Medli, another is Tetra, and the last one is a surprise that comes a lot later in the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

"…Naruto!?" The blond heard the captain call after an hour of him just sitting around. He looked up from his spot next to the railing of the ship to see her standing there with her hands on her hips. "Listen, kid, you can't just stand around on deck! You'll get in everyone's way! I told Niko to look after you, so you'd better report belowdecks and ask him what you should be doing."

"Better than just sitting here doing nothing." He said as he stood and headed toward the only door he saw headed into the ship. As soon as he entered it he saw two things; one was a pirate standing before a doorway without an actual door and the other was a set of stairs heading down…starting from right before the doorway.

With a shrug he walked around and started heading down. "What's up?" He asked the pirate as he walked.

The pirate had longish black hair tied under an orange bandana and oddly enough, a thin goatee directly under his mouth. He wore a grey long-sleeve with two black wristbands over his forearms and a pair of green pants tied by a belt with a round yellow buckle. "Guarding the captain's room." He replied in a bored tone.

"Couldn't you just get a door with a lock." The blond asked.

"We tried but the captain kept breaking them, haven't given up though. The next one is going to be steel." The pirate informed him.

"What about iron?"

"The next one is going to be steel." The pirate repeated.

"Well…okay." Naruto muttered confusedly as he stopped heading down the stairs. "Anyway, why do you guys-"

"Treat young Miss Tetra with so much respect when she's clearly so much younger than us?" The pirate guessed, to which he got a nod before he glanced around suspiciously. "Now, I won't go saying this in a very loud voice, but while she may look young…Miss Tetra is actually 35!"

"…What…the…fuck?" Naruto asked between long pauses.

The pirate suddenly laughed boisterously. "That's a joke, shrimpy!" He declared before his face turned somber. "I suppose it was just chance that we lost our last Miss when Miss Tetra was still young." He sighed. "Fate is cruel, she is."

"Then why isn't someone else in charge?"

"Miss Tetra took over when she was young. She owes it to her predecessor." The pirate said with a shrug. "Everyone's come to respect her for that. For coping with so much, at such an age." He chuckled. "Respect has nothing to do with how many years you've been on this earth. But you're probably too young to understand that."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the old 'you're too young' phrase and simply continued downstairs until he came to the unnamed pirate from when he asked to get a ride. The room he was in had two platforms in front of the doorways into the room and across it to what he quested was a treasure room.

He had shaggy dirty-blond hair tied under a blue bandana, a pair of buck-teeth, and two whisker-like marks on either cheek. He wore a white shirt with red stripes and a pair of pants tied by a black belt with a skull buckle. And he was short. "Oh!" He said as he saw Naruto. "Well now! Ahoy there, swabbie!" He greeted. "As of today…"

They both went completely silent when his voice squeaked.

The pirate coughed. "I am your superior…Niko!" He introduced himself. "Now, I promise I'll go easy on you, so you do as I say, okay?"

"Sure." Naruto agreed unenthusiastically.

"Right! Now, first off you have to take the test all new pirates have to take. It's a bit of a doozy, so get ready!" He warned. "You watch everything I'm about to show you real careful-like so you can cram it into your no doubt mushy swabbie brain."

Naruto glared at the pirate. "Just throwing it out there, but I'm the one with a sword. I can cut you with it." He wouldn't, but this idiot didn't know it.

"Uh, right!" Niko said nervously. "Onto the test." He walked over to a switch. "First off, you gotta press this switch. This is the easy part."

"No, no." Naruto said sarcastically. "Gods forbid I don't know how to step on a switch when my six year-old sister does!"

Niko stepped into the switch and several platforms rose from the floor…with lamps hanging from the ceiling coincidentally being between them. "Now, check it out! After the platforms rise up from the floor, you gotta jump on them!" He did so and jumped onto the first risen platform. "Okay, so I was able to jump to this first one myself…but the next one is too far, right? That's when you gotta do this!" He shouted as he jumped and swung from one of the ropes holding a lamp.

"Got it, swing from platform to platform and try to get there." Naruto stated as he motioned to what he assumed was the treasure room.

Niko grinned as he continued jumping from platform to platform. "Here's the problem, though, swabbie!" He said as he made it to the entrance and the platforms fell. "The platforms only stay raised for a little while, so if you don't get there by the time they drop, you have to start over!" He grinned. "It will probably take you at least one year before you're good enough to make it all the way here. One rough year. One tough year, full of bumps and bruises. Of course, if you manage to do it faster, I'll reward you. Now, give it a try!" He then snickered to himself. "This ought to be good for a chuckle or two!"

"Right…" Naruto murmured as he walked over to the switch and stepped on it before jumping to the first platform and beginning to swing from platform to platform with ease. When he landed in front of Niko he grinned. "So what's my prize?"

"What!? You did it already?" The pirate asked in…apparently amazement. "I…I…I'm proud to have you as…as my…as my underling!" He choked out. He then looked around before mumbling to himself. "I…I wonder if its okay to give that to him…I don't see why not…I doubt I'll get busted." He then grinned at Naruto and spoke normally. "All right, swabbie! I'll tell you what! You can have the treasure in that chest over there! It's your reward from the great and generous Niko!"

Naruto raised a brow but headed into the treasure room and opened the…only chest in there. Inside was…some purple pouch with one side made to look like a scary face. "The hell is this?"

"It's a Spoils Bag!" Niko spoke from the doorway. "You can keep stuff you get from monsters you kill in there! It can hold lots of…eight kinds of things?"

"…It's the size of my hand." Naruto stated dully.

"It's a magic bag!" Niko said with a grin.

_Magic, of course_. Naruto thought disbelievingly.

"Hey! Naruto!" Terra's voice called from above. "We've reached the Forsaken Fortress! Hurry and get up here!"

Niko snorted in surprise. "But there's still so much stuff I have to teach you…this is so lame!" He sighed. "Ahh, well…I guess it can wait until you finish whatever it is you have to do."

Naruto raised a brow at the pirate but shrugged. "Bye." With that he jumped down and headed for the ladder on the opposite side of the room.

XXX XXX

"How the hell is it night already? I was only in there for an hour!" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Hey! Naruto!" Tetra said from…still above. "Here I am! Up here!"

Naruto looked up to the crows nest and sighed before walking to the ladder and climbing up.

"What were you doing with Niko?" The captain immediately asked when Naruto got up. "Don't tell me you were playing some stupid game for treasure…were you?" She then shook her head. "Well, whatever! There's something you need to see!" He nodded her head to the side. "Have a look over there…that's the cursed isle known as he Forsaken Fortress."

It was a giant island with a spire on the far end, with an extension for the massive bird from before sitting on it. There were also searchlights on a few towers…and cannons…and lots of sunken ships…oh and a giant wall with the only entrance boarded up completely. "There are all sorts of strange rumors about this place." Tetra began. "What I do know is trust long ago, it use to be the hideout of a no-good group of pirates we use to compete with…but they were just small time. Now, the place looks like its pretty dangerous."

"Seagulls." Naruto suddenly pointed at a window with a search-light, more specifically the seagulls flying around the area. "That's where Aryll is."

"Your sister?" He nodded. "Why do you think that?"

"Seagulls always follow her around, chances are that's where she is." Naruto informed her.

"Right…but it looks like the whole place is under really tight guard." She noted. "This won't work…we'd be spotted before we got anywhere near landing there. Hmm…what do we do now?" She murmured before getting an idea.

XXX XXX

"No." Naruto growled after Tetra explained her plan and the catapult was turned to face the island.

"Look. If you really want to get into a dangerous place like that, this is the only way to do it. Trust me." The captain explained. "We pirates do this all the time. Don't worry about it! It'll be a piece of cake!" She looked to Gonzo who was manning the catapult. "Is everybody ready!?"

Gonzo nodded and looked to Naruto as the other pirates shoved him into a barrel and placed it on the catapult. "Never you fear, kid. We're pros. We're going to launch you good!"

"Three…two…one!" Tetra counted down.

* * *

><p>"If you can somehow hear me, I fucking hate you Gonzo." Naruto growled as he climbed out of the water inside the fortress, after smashing into the wall and losing his sword.<p>

"Your sword landed all the way up there?" Gonzo's voice suddenly spoke from seemingly the blond's pocket. "Shoot! I'm sorry! I apologize! I guess my aim was off by a little bit."

Tetra laughed. "The look on your face…priceless!" She said, once again seemingly coming from his pocket. Naruto reached into said pocket and pulled out an odd stone that glowed blue. "I slipped this stone into your pocket just before they stuffed you in the barrel. It's no ordinary stone, either."

"No, I can just hear your fucking voices from far away even with a _wall_ between us." Naruto said sarcastically. "Thank you captain obvious."

"Ha. Ha." Tetra grunted. "Anyway, I can see what you're doing through this stone, and obviously you can hear me through it. I need this back after you save your sister, so don't go losing it, you understand?!"

"Got it." Naruto replied.

"All right then, down to brass tacks! The courtyard is awash with searchlights, so they'll see you right away if you just go charging in…better think it through!"

"…I'm not even over there." The blond stated before shaking his head. "Whatever. Thanks." He placed the stone back into his pocket and started to climb the stairs, he got to the very edge of the top and began to watch the searchlights for a pattern. Once he saw it he looked around and saw another set of stairs. He didn't exactly get a good look of the area so having a nice view would be pretty good.

Once he was up the stairs he saw a ledge leading up to one of the searchlights. He headed up the ledge and towards a ladder to the searchlight. "Wait!" Tetra's voice suddenly shouted, shocking him enough to stop moving. "Listen up, Naruto…there's a monster running the searchlight up there! If you can slay the monster, then just maybe it'll shut the searchlight down." She paused. "Oh…but you're unarmed, aren't you? All you have is a shield…if I were you, I'd try to use my shield to deflect the monster's blows and see if I could make it drop it's weapon. Then use it against it."

Naruto glanced at the shield that miraculously stayed on his back and raised a brow. "I have a better idea." He said as he began to climb the ladder. When he was up he walked around the searchlight until he saw the monster, the same thing he saw in the forest only this time it was armed with a stick. It quickly noticed him and charged, stopping the turning of some lever…that left the searchlights to sag and only point on the tower they stood on.

When the monster tried to swing at him he dodged and brought his shield up. It laughed…until he smashed it into the monster's face. He then proceeded to kick it in the stomach before smashing his shield into it again, thing kicking again, and repeating until it fell off the tower and onto a small ledge with a large wooden door. It then exploded signifying its death.

"Okay, too much of a fall." Naruto muttered before heading back down to the ledge he walked up on. "Okay…if I get a running start and roll when I land I should be okay.

"You cannot be serious." Tetra suddenly spoke up.

"Well what's your idea?" He asked.

"Go back to the stairs, there should be a door into the tower there. Then make your way around!" She directed. "It'll take longer but you won't break your neck!"

Naruto grumbled for a moment before noting and heading back. "Fine." Once he was at the archway he looked to his right to see that there was indeed a door. He entered it and saw that there was a walkway leading to another door that would lead outside. He ran along and quickly outside, he didn't pause for a moment and continued running along the archway into the other tower.

In the tower there were two wooden walkways. One where he was and one across the room too far for him to reach by jumping, luckily there was a lantern hanging just between them. He jumped and swung onto the other platform, but not before noticing something odd. There was a statue of a very large pig-man holding a spear hanging over the doorway. It had a large torso with an disgustingly large mouth that looked like it could eat him whole! It's eyes were bulging out as if they didn't even fit inside of its skull and its mouth was held into what he assumed what a grin with teeth showing.

"Gods that's ugly." He muttered before heading for the door

Once he was outside Tetra spoke up again. "Ah-hah! I've got it, Naruto!"

He raised a brow curiously. "In order to reach the top of the tower where your sister's being held, you'll have to find the room right below the tower." He prepared to make a sarcastic remark but she cut him off. "You gotta take the door to the outside, and then climb up from there. You got that?"

"Yeah…thanks." He said before heading into the next tower.

Inside the tower were two actual real-life versions of the statue he saw in the last tower. "Ugh." He groaned. As it turned out, the statue actually did the things justice. They were so burly torso-wise that they had to lean forward and use their dam spears and canes since their legs were small and ended with pig-hooves. Luckily for him they wore pants, or else he might've puked just looking at the things.

"Ugh…that smell." He groaned. "It smells like shit in here."

He shook off the foul odor after a bit and started sneaking towards the stairs the two uglier pig-men were guarding. He covered his nose and looked for something to hide himself with but there was nothing. He noticed that there were wooden pillars with a small ship tied to them so he hid behind one and waited for the thing patrolling the side he was on to pass before jumping onto the part of the walkway it already passed and quietly running to the door.

When he made it he'd never been so glad to leave a room in his life. He proceeded to climb the stairs and run along the empty walkway up and around the spire…until he came to a broken section. He shimmied across the small portion along the wall that was still there before coming to _another_ one right where a searchlight…wasn't shining?

"Huh?"

"Funny thing." Tetra spoke up. "Once that searchlight went down the monster running the one next to it went to check what happened. I'd say you have…two more minutes before the entire place knows you're there."

Naruto's eyes went wide at that and he quickly shimmied across the ledge before heading up the final set of stairs to the door…where his sword was! He picked it up gleefully before he heard a growl. He turned his head to see a green version of the monster he originally fought and that were running the searchlights…only this one held a wooden shield int one arm and a very large cleaver in the other.

Naruto gulped and raised his shield as he held his sword. He'd probably just use his sword anyway since he doubted his shield could block metal. The monster swung and he blocked it with his sword. It pulled back after a moment so he stabbed into its stomach, luckily he learned from his first experience with monsters and continued stabbing into it until it brought the cleaver down again. He jumped back from the attack, and the subsequent attacks it tried to skewer him with.

Once it seemed out of energy he jumped and brought his sword down on its head. It exploded and he got away without injury, thankfully. He stared at the spot it exploded at for a moment before noticing that it's cleaver was still there. "What the hell?" He murmured as he reached down and picked it up. He turned it over a few times before giving it a few swings.

"Meh, this thing sucks." He stated before tossing it aside, with a weapon that bad it wasn't much of a surprise that he won. Back to what was important though, he turned and ran through the door.

The area inside was just a bunch of wooden cells, along with a very large stairway spiraling up the spire. He looked through the cells before frowning. "Aryll? Are you here Aryll?"

"…Brother?" A familiar voice asked.

The blond turned his head to see his sister, and two other girls who wore very expensive clothing and rags respectively, sitting in a cell on the far end of the room. "Sis!" He cried, beginning to make his way towards her before stopping abruptly.

Something was off, there were no guards at all. There were prisoners here so there had to be some way to keep them there. A screech alerted him to something above just moments before the massive bird that took his sister swooped down and took him in its beak.

"Brother!" Aryll yelled as he was carried away.

Once outside the bird flew around the island until it reached a small deck where a man stood. Naruto tried to make out what he looked like but the bird's beak was pinching his body so hard he could barely breathe! After a moment the man nodded his head elsewhere and the bird tossed him away.

Naruto flew for a good minute before he hit the water, all the while he could faintly make out the voices of Tetra and Gonzo calling his name through the stone before he hit the water and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

"Naruto…Naruto…wake up, Naruto!" A voice called the blond.

He groaned as he opened his eyes, only to shut them from the sunlight shining. "Ugh…what happened?"

"Pull yourself together, Naruto!" The voice called again.

Opening his eyes again he began to take in his surroundings. He was on a small boat he could barely lay down in, he was in a small cave with light shining into it, and he was being talked to by someone he couldn't see. He shot up and started looking around. "Have you finally come to your senses then?" The voice asked.

Naruto scowled as he looked around he unsheathed his sword and glared around. "Who are you? Where are you?"

Suddenly, the head ornament of the boat he was on turned around to look at him. It was made of red or white-painted wood and was carved into the likeness of a lion with two horns and a yellow nose. "You are surprisingly dull witted…"

"Holy shit!" The blond exclaimed as he fell back and dropped his sword.

The ornament laughed. "Did I startle you?" It asked. "I suppose that is only natural. As wide as the world is, I am the only boat upon it who can speak the words of men." It explained. "I am the King of Red Lions. Do not fear…I am not your enemy."

Naruto stared at the boat before slowly taken calming breathes. "Okay, you were tossed into the ocean. You must've accidentally drank some of the water and now you're hallucinating. Yeah, Tetra will come out any second now and say this was a prank."

"Naruto…" The ornament spoke seriously. "I have been watching you since you went to the Forsaken Fortress to rescue your sister." That got the boy's attention. "I understand how your desire to protect your sister could give you the courage to stand up to anything…but such a bold attempt was foolhardy!" It chastised.

Naruto stared at it for a long moment. "You…Tetra's not here playing a trick on me, is she?" He asked, getting a shake of the…head. "What happened?"

"I suppose you saw him…" The boat stated gravely. "The shadow that commands that monstrous bird…his name is…Ganon…"

"…He who obtained the power of the gods, attempted to cover the land in darkness, and was ultimately sealed away by the very power he hoped to command." The boat explained. "He is the very same Ganon…the empire of the dark realm the ancient legends speak of…I do not know why the seal of the gods has failed, but now that Ganin has returned, the world is once again being threatened by his evil magic."

"Tell me, Naruto…do you still wish to save your sister from him?" The boat asked. Naruto nodded. "And will you do anything to save her?" Another nod. "…I see. In that case, I shall guide you as we go forward…advising you on what you should do and where you must go." It stated. "Ganon cannot be defeated by human hands, let alone by what little strength you possess. The key to defeating Ganon is locked away in a great power hat you can wield only after much tool and hardship. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded seriously. "Yeah…so what do we have to do?"

"We depart! To the Great Sea!" The boat exclaimed. "…Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. This is actually a bit embarrassing for me to admit, but…although I am indeed a boat that possesses the power of speech…I possess no sail.l it said sheepishly. "And a boat with no sail can sail no seas."

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked incredulously. "You can talk but you still need a sail?"

The 'King' sighed. "I have brought you far to the east of the dark gaze of the Forsaken Fortress. On this island is a town of merchants who deal in a wide variety of goods." He explained while looking to the small path outside of the cave. "If you search hard enough, surely you can find one who will sell you a sail. I am sorry to ask this of you, but without a sail, I will be useless to you."

"It's fine." Naruto replied as he jumped out of the boat. "I'll go find a sail, then we'll head out."

"This island of merchants is home to many valuable goods. The information they provide you may come in handy during your adventures at sea, so listen carefully to their words and need them well." The boat called as he left. "But remember: there is no time to play. Come back here immediately as soon as your errands are done."

"Got it!" Naruto said as he climbed the path to the small town. The first building he saw was hanging on a short cliff so he walked up to it and took a look at the sign. "Bombs." He shook his head, he didn't need explosives right now. He turned and headed down the trail until the road forked to a straight path leading up the cliff forming the cave he woke up in, or go right to the entrance of town. He decided to go right and head into town.

Not seconds later he was approached by an old man wearing a bob-cap, patched-up brown overalls, and a dark-green long-sleeve. He looked sad but gave off a feeling Naruto didn't like.

And he didn't mind the poor.

"Oh! Oh, if you please!" The old man called. "Young boy, there! Please help me!" He begged. "Please listen to my tale of woe!"

"Uhh…okay." Naruto answered.

"My sweet, sweet daughter! My only daughter! Poor Maggie…she was captured by a bunch if villains and taken to the Forsaken Fortress!" He cried. "What on earth could those scoundrels want with her? Are they just roaming around looking for young maidens? Are they just evil creatures who delight in mischief?" He sighed. "Well, crud! Having a kidnapped daughter doesn't get you a single Rupee, you know…!"

And there it is. A cheap bastard that only cares about himself.

"Please! Please save my poor daughter! I beg of you! Here I stand, begging!" He exclaimed while bowing repeatedly. "I hope you'll give those scoundrels in the Forsaken Fortress a good scare! They'll pay for what they've done! Oh, yes! Pay!"

The old man stopped talking and Naruto took that moment to continue on his way. "Prick." He muttered under his breath. He shook the mans pleas from his mind but connected that he was the father of the girl with his sister who was wearing rags. As he walked through town the first building had a sign outside with a picture of a man holding a bottle of…"What the heck is a 'Chu Jelly'?" He shook his head and continued on his way. The next building had a very decorated door, he checked the handle and it was unlocked so he entered.

Inside was a room full of fine china and sparkling pots with designs on them. It was a very fancy room, at the far end of which was a platform with a stand at the very center. "Huh, I wonder what this place is he wondered aloud." Sadly, no one was there so he left

He continued on his way and overheard two women talking trash about a schoolteacher, he decided not to get involved with that and checked the next store; a stall managed by a short man wearing a full-body jacket lined with white fur. He had an odd mustache stretching to both sides of his face from under his bulbous nose and a small goatee.

"What's up?" The blond asked.

"My story is a strange one…I came across cursed seas from a land far away…a land where the blizzards blow violently…heading for this town called Windfall." Naruto filed away the town's name for reference. "Dear me, my ship was torn apart by vicious winds, and this island is where I washed ashore. There was one other person with me, yes there was…but, I dare say, he was immediately arrested based on his somewhat suspicious looks and thrown right into jail. Yes, just locked up somewhere on this island."

"They just threw him in jail?" The blond asked.

The man nodded. "Needless to say, I'm really worried about him. Would you be so kind as to help me free him from captivity? Indeed, it would be appreciated."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know…I'm not too alright with doing that."

"I see…" The man said with a sigh. "Well, if you happen upon him would you tell him I'm trying to free him?"

"Alright." Naruto agreed as he left and continued his walk around the town. The next shop had the likeness of a Picture-box on top of the door, despite that, Naruto entered. The counter was filled with machines and lenses of all kinds, even on a shelf on the back wall there were several picture-boxes. Standing around was a large man wearing yellow robes and holding a small reel of negatives. The man had a large mustache and even larger heard that threatened to cover the picture-box hanging around his neck. "Hmm, now…I would have to say that I've never seen your face before. Have I?" He said as he looked over to the blond. "Intriguing. Beguiling. I know you're just a small child, but I've found one can rarely trust strangers. Where is it you've come from, young sir?"

"I'm Naruto, I'm from Outset Island." He introduced himself. "So why don't you think you can trust anyone old man?"

The man sighed. "I'm sorry, but the years have made me wary. Once, long ago, I rented a room out to a traveler for a single night. The next dawn, my precious Picto Box was stolen…they caught the scoundrel, yet my possession remains outside of my grasp. Perhaps it will for forever with him in his cell. Why are good deeds so often repaid with cruelty?" He asked aloud.

"Hmm…" Naruto hummed as he got an idea. "Say, old man." He said getting the man's attention. "If I can get your Picto Box back, can you do me a favor?"

"I don't see why not." The man replied.

"Alright, I'll be back." The blond said as he ran out the door.

Once outside he began thinking to himself while heading to the next building. _Alright. I just have to find the guy in jail, have him search the cell for the old man's Picto Box, bring it to the old man, and explain how the guy found it. Then that merchant has proof that his friend isn't such a bad guy._ He grinned at his plan.

He then entered the next building without any thought. He came to see an older woman with pink hair done up in a fashion reminiscent to a butterfly. She wore a green coat with paw-prints along the bottom over an orange dress, with a light-green scarf around her neck. "Well hello." She greeted. "Welcome to Miss Marie's school of joy. I don't think I've ever seen your face around here before, my young scholar…are you a new pupil?"

"No, I'm just passing through and seeing what the town has to offer." Naruto explained.

"Alright." The woman said.

Naruto promptly turned and left the building. Now there was only one building from what he saw, the building with the windmill in the center. It was either that building or the stairway next to it…Naruto decided on the stairway but before he could move a voice spoke up.

"Yo, bud! Are you lookin' for a Picto Box or somethin'?" A small boy wearing a blue shirt and pants asked. He also wore a cap tilted to the side and an open jacket. The kid was obviously acting like someone important when he really wasn't.

The blond decided to humor him. "Yeah."

"Thought so!" The kid said. "There ain't nothin' in this town that we Killer Bees don't know!"

It was then that a blue-haired boy wearing brown jacket over a purple shirt and blue pants spoke up. "Boss! I heard about this from my dad!" He said. "A while back, this thief stole a Picto Box, and he was held in the town jail for a long, log time! Yeah, real long! The thief managed to get free after a while, but the box he stole never got found."

Next a boy with messy brown hair spoke. He wore a red short-sleeved shirt and brown overalls. "Huh huh huh!" He laughed stupidly. "Maybe it's still hidden somewhere in the jail cell! Don't you think? Maybe?"

The final of the children, one with brown hair wearing a green shirt with blue overalls spoke. "Gimme a break! How stupid would that be!" He argued. "Real stupid, that's how stupid."

"Right…well thanks for the info." Naruto said as he walked to the stairway and climbed it. The stairway led to a walkway the ended with a door similar to the second building he entered. He entered and saw that he was as high as a chandelier, going to the open part of the room's floor where the chandelier hung down he looked to see he was in fact on the second floor of the building he was reminded of.

Soon a man with well-combed brown hair, including his mustache and small goatee, walked up. He was wearing a red robe with green cuffs…over blue robes that had yellow buttons keeping it closed, and if that wasn't enough it was also tied by a purple sash with a small dagger under it. He was giving him a very scrutinizing look. "Hmm…I wonder…" He mumbled. "I wonder if a boy like you will do…"

"Huh?"

"…It's difficult to tell. Yes. Difficult." The man continued to mumble before deciding to explain. "You see, my one and only daughter, Mila, was taken away from me to a frightening place called the Forsaken Fortress…I have asked many to rescue her, but it seems to be a difficult voyage to that cursed place…oh, to see my sweet Mila again…my precious little daughter…" The man cried. "I worry so over her welfare. I can't recall the last time I slept more than a wink!"

"Mila…and you said the Forsaken Fortress, right?" Naruto asked to which he received a nod. "Well, I was there not too long ago since some giant bird kidnapped my sister and took her there. Mila…is she a blond girl my age wearing fancy clothes?"

"Ah, yes! That's her!" The man affirmed. "That's my sweet Mila!"

Naruto grinned. "Well, she seemed fine to me when I saw her."

The man smiled. "Thank you, you have no idea how well it does me to hear that." He paused and gave Naruto another scrutinizing look. "I sincerely wonder about the wisdom of asking a boy like you to do this…but would you lend a hand to help rescue my precious daughter?"

"Of course!" The blond agreed.

"You are a brave boy to take on this task." The man remarked. "I assure you, if you do rescue her, I will pay you as much money as it takes. I'd give my entire fortune for her safety!"

Naruto smiled. "No charge. You're alright in my book old man, so I'll do what I can." With that he headed out the door and back to where the road originally forked as he had no other buildings to check. This time he took the other path and walked up it, after a while he came upon a wooden door and entered. The sight that immediately greeted him was a set of wooden bars cutting the room in half. "Alright, found the town jail. Now…where's that guy?"

"Oh?!" A voice gasped. Soon a man wearing green clothing walked up to the bars…it was an entirely green bodysuit that even covered his head! The only things besides that he had on were a necklace holding a compass and an unnecessary pair of red undergarments on the outside of the suit! "I see the same green clothes and the same green hat! By the look of you, I'd say…sir! Could you, by chance, be…a fairy?"

"What?"

"Goodness! Did you feel my telepathy?!" The man asked. "That's why you saved me, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?" Before Naruto could correct him the land continued. "Do not worry! Tingle knows without you telling him, sir! Yes, sir!"

"W-"

"Tingle is my name!" The man enthusiastically introduced himself. "I have been looking for you and your kind, for I, too, long to be one of the fairy folk!" He sighed. "And yet, I was mistaken for some kind of troublemaker and put into this dreadful sort of place! How disrespectful!" He huffed. "Please, Mister Fairy…rescue poor Tingle from this place, and take him to where you and your kind live in splendor!"

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly before letting out a defeated sigh. _Okay, you can do this._ He thought to himself. "You're right Tingle, I came to help you!" He exclaimed childishly. "In the beginning I could barely feel your telepathy, but you're friend that came to this island with you hoped that someone could get you out so he helped!"

"Really!" Tingle asked.

"Really!" Naruto agreed. "But, because I'm a nice fairy I can't break the rules." Tingle seemed put out by this so he continued. "Don't worry! I asked around and came up with a plan! Look around the cell for a picture box and give it to me, then I'll take it to a grumpy old man and he'll help your friend prove you shouldn't be here!"

"Really!" Tingle asked and received a nod. "Alright, Tingle found it a while ago! I'll be right back!" He said as he pushed a large box at the back of the cell away and entered a small crawlspace. A few minutes later he emerged from the space with a red and yellow picture box. "Here you go Mister Fairy!" He said as he handed the blond the item through the bars.

"Alright Tingle, I'll take this the the grumpy old man. You just wait until they come and set you free." He said as he left and headed back to the shop.

XXX XXX

"Why, young sir…is that my Picto Box?" The man asked when Naruto entered the store holding said object.

The blond nodded while holding it out to the man. "Yeah, now about that favor…"

"Of course!" The man said. "What would you like?"

"You know that guy that got arrested recently?" Naruto asked.

The man nodded. "Yes, the man believed he was a fairy of all things."

"Yeah well…he's the one that found it." The man raised a brow so Naruto explained what had happened.

"Ah so the man is just…"

"A man-child, yeah." Naruto agreed. "But he's still a good guy.

"And you want me to vouch for his release?"

"Yeah, his friend with the big coat was pretty worried about him." Naruto explained.

"Alright, and thank you for bringing my Picto Box back to me." The man thanked him again. "And while you're here, please do visit my upstairs Pictograph gallery! You're bound to find it quite exciting, young sir, I guarantee it!"

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I'll do that." He said as he headed up the stairs to the second floor. The moment he saw the room he was really surprised by some of the pictures, they were great and he hadn't even seen them up close!

"Whoa…"

The man chuckled as he climbed the stairs. "Aren't these some finely snapped pictographs? You must admit it!" He exclaimed proudly.

"You you kidding me old man, these are great." He went up to the one to the very left of the door and paused. "I don't even know what these are and I'm impressed. How did you get these?"

"I took them all myself." The man replied as he entered the room and looked around nostalgically. "These are from back in my youth, back during my days of grandeur and adventure!"

"You were an adventurer?" Naruto asked with a surprised look.

"You needn't be so surprised, my young sir!" He chuckled before lifting the Picto Box Naruto had brought him. "And this, is the Picto Box that I took each and every one of these pictographs with. You see, in my younger days I was tireless, sailing far and wide across the Great Sea, snapping pictographs wherever I went…have a closer look at them, young sir!" He insisted.

"What's this of then?" The blond asked, still looking at the picture just left of the door.

"Well, those are creatures called ChuChus." The man began. "They are said to have medicinal properties, so they are a most important resource treasured by sailors the world over. Why, there is even said to be an extremely rare species of them known as the Blue ChuChu. It is only under very unusual circumstances that they are ever sighted…you would be most lucky to ever come across one, young sir!"

Naruto nodded and looked around, one picture taking his attention much more than the others. "Whoa, whoa…is that…?" He asked aloud as he headed to the picture.

"Ah, Outset Island." The man confirmed. "It is the most delightful of fishing villages, innocent and rich with nature's bounty…it was there I met a beautiful young lass…"

Naruto stopped cold.

"Although, I suppose she is probably not as young as she used to be these days…" He paused. "Ah, you said you were from there, didn't you? Do you-"

"You knew my grandma?" Naruto asked quietly as he slowly turned to the man.

"Your grandmother…?" He smiled. "Ah, I suppose she would be at that age. How is she these days?"

"…She…she passed away a few years ago." Naruto muttered sadly.

It was the man's turn to stop cold. "Oh…m-my apologies, young sir. I had no clue."

"It's…alright." Naruto sighed. "Oh yeah, I never asked. What's you're name old man?"

"My name is Lenzo." He introduced himself.

"Cool name." The blond remarked, he then frowned. "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something…? Something important." He blanched. "I was supposed to be looking for a sail!"

"A sail?" Lenzo asked. "If I remember correctly, the other man who washed ashore should still have a sail. It was one of the few things that washed ashore with him."

"Really?" A nod. "Thanks old-err, Lenzo." Naruto thanked as he ran out the room. "I need a sail so I could save my sister."

"Save your sister from what, young sir?" Lenzo asked.

Naruto paused as he started down the stairs. "Some bird kidnapped her and took her to the Forsaken Fortress. I'm gonna save her but I need to get something first…I don't really know the details but…I'm going to be heading to a few places to get it."

"I see." The old man shivered, turning his gaze to the other picture closest to the doorway. One of the very place they spoke of. "In that case, take this." He said while holding his Picto Box out to the boy.

"But…"

"I'm too old now, to continue sailing the world in search of incredible things to pictograph." Lenzo said remorsefully. "You however, are still young and certainly have quite the adventure ahead of you, young sir. Also, I've been researching picture boxes since I was but a child and my dream of creating a picture box with extraordinary pictographing capability has nearly come to fruition. Think of this as something akin to…becoming my research assistant?"

Naruto stared at the man for a while before nodding and taking the Picto Box and hanging it around his neck a strap that was tied to it. "Alright, I'll make sure to take some great pictures while I'm out. I'll come back and show them to you when I can old man." He said before turning to leave again.

"Young sir, could you wait a moment? I have a few requests."

"Requests?" The blond asked.

Lenzo nodded. "Yes, requests for pictographs."

"Alright." Naruto agreed. "What are they?"

"First, a love letter…do you know what that is, young sir?" He asked, which the blond confusedly shook his head to. "It is a collection of words of love, long unspoken and put into written form." He explained. "Somewhere in this town, there is one who, despite constant rejection, never learns the cold lesson of unrequited passion and continues to write letters of doomed love. I am certain the object of this sadly one-sided affection is in quite the quandary over the matter. I am of the mind that I must have a word with the unwanted suitor." He shook his head. "However, I must have physical evidence."

"So you want me to take a pictograph of them sending one of these letters?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm? Oh, my apologies, my mind began to wander away from the subject. While that would be helpful, it is not my request." The old man answered. "I would request that you take a picture of a young maiden who has found love, such always makes for a beautiful pictograph."

Naruto nodded. "I'll get right on it. What are the others?"

He was waved off. "That will be quite enough for now."

"Okay…?" The blond said confusedly, before turning and running down towards the door. "Later!"

Once outside he headed left to where the man in the coat stood at his stall. "Hmm? Yes, has something happened?" The man asked.

"You said you were trying to get your friend out right?"

"Yes…?" The man replied.

"You know Lenzo, the old man running the picture box store?"

"Yes. He is a mysterious individual." The man answered thoughtfully.

"If you ask him, he'll vouch for your friend being a good guy. That's enough for them to let him out right?" Naruto asked.

"Well…with how he was arrested based on his looks, yes that would be enough." The man said happily. "This is news I deem rather great! You are one stand-up individual, indeed you are! Now, I apologize, but I have nothing to repay you with."

"Do you have a sail? I need one." The blond asked.

"A sail?" The man asked. "Yes, I do. Would you like it? I doubt I'll be able to sell it with this island being full of sailors who already have sails."

"Yes, please." Naruto answered as the man reached under the counter and retrieved the folded up sail. He gratefully took the sail from the man and turned to leave, but not before asking, "I never got your name?"

The man grinned. "I am Zunari." He introduced himself.

"Thanks Zunari, if you ever need something and I'm around don't be afraid to ask." The blond offered. "You have no idea how much this helps me." With that he was off back to the cave where the King of Red Lions was waiting for him.

Sadly, fate had other plans as a man wearing red overalls was placing a letter into the postbox anxiously. With a small groan Naruto moved the sail underneath one arm and picked up his Picto Box with the other. He snapped a quick picture of the man before turning and walking back to Lenzo's shop. "I got that picture old man!" He called as he entered.

Lenzo jumped slightly in surprise. "I didn't think there were any maidens on this island who had fallen in love." He said to himself confusedly.

"No, the other one. The love-letter guy." He said as he showed the picture of the man.

Lenzo frowned. "They say love is blind, but what could he be thinking, mailing all these letters?" He shook his head. "I should not ridicule him, though, for he reminds me of myself back in the innocence of my youth…memories of those bittersweet summer days come rushing back to me…" He sighed. "But I digress…very good, young sir! I must thank you."

"It's fine." Naruto replied as he turned back to the door. "I've got to go. See you later with that other picture." He called as he ran off.

XXX XXX

"So, you've found yourself a sail, have you?" The King of Red Lions stated as Naruto arrived at the cave. "Very well! Now I shall yeah you the art of sailing. Climb aboard." It said before a black latch opened and a small collapsable mast lifted from inside and opened. "Hoist the sail, and turn the rudder in the opposite direction which you want to go."

"How the hell did you fit that in there?" Naruto asked incredulously as he stared at the boat. "You're not even half as tall as that thing!"

"Magic." The boat answered as if it was obvious.

"…Whatever." The blond sighed as he climbed aboard and hoisted the sail as told.

"Good. The sail will catch the wind, which will push the boat forward." The boat explained. "If you wish to move quickly, you should keep the wind blowing directly into the sail." The blond nodded. "Good. Ah! One more thing. When you are out at sea with few landmarks to go by, you will be at the mercy of your Sea Chart. I have marked the place we should currently be heading for on your Sea Chart."

"One, where is the map?" Naruto asked. "Two, I'm going to guess you marked it with magic?"

"By your feet, and yes." Was the reply. "If you ever get lost at sea, simply open your Sea Chart. So take care not to lose it." The boat directed. "Now! A westerly wind blows! Let it carry us East!"

Naruto nodded and sailed out of the cave, towards the next unknown destination.

* * *

><p><strong>I had no clue that Windfall would be so long…I seriously thought that i'd have to write Dragon Roost island in this chapter too.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

"There! On the horizon!" The King of Red Lions called out. "That is our destination, Naruto…Dragon Roost Island!"

"Let me guess, it's because there's a dragon at the top?" The blond asked.

"Yes." The boat answered. "High atop this island's peak lives the spirit of the skies…a great dragon by the name of Valoo. You must see this dragon and request of him a jewel called Din's Pearl."

"And I get to the top of the mountain, how exactly?" Naruto asked as he looked at the beach they went ashore on.

"Ask the people of the Rito tribe who inhabit this island how to see the dragon." The boat answered.

"Right…you can't go on land so you wouldn't know would you?" The blond sighed and hopped off the small boat. "Well, I'll see you when I get the pearl then."

"Oh, I almost forgot! Wait just a moment!" The boat hurriedly said, making the boy turn around to see it holding some small stick in it's mouth. "This is the Wind Waker! It is a baton of sorts that was used long ago when the people played music in prayer to the gods." It nodded its head and tossed the baton to the boy. "In those days, simply using it allowed one to borrow the power of the gods, but I do not know if it still works. Even so, I thought it might be of some use to you. Perhaps you should try using it."

"…Fine." Naruto reluctantly agreed, holding the baton in his left hand. "So how do I do this?"

"First conduct in three-fourths time!" The boat directed, "Flick your wrist one each second three times to do so."

Naruto nodded, first flicking his wrist up. At the very moment he did a chorus coming from nowhere and everywhere echoed through the area. "…I guess it still works…Huh?" The boat nodded. This time Naruto completely did the practice, flicking his wrist up, then down, then to the left.

"Very nice! That was splendid!" The boat complimented. "Next is four-fourths time. Now flick your wrist four times, still with one second intervals."

Naruto nodded and did so; up, left, right, and finally down he conducted.

"That's it, Naruto! That was not bad for your first time using the Wind Waker! Not bad at all!" The boat grinned. "You can also conduct with it in six-fourths time. You would do well to remember that."

Naruto grinned as he lifted the baton into the air. He then frowned thoughtfully. "Is it right to borrow power from the gods? Won't they get pissed about it?"

"I…I'm not sure." The boat wondered itself.

"Well, whatever." Naruto shrugged as he placed the baton into his…Spoils Bag. It wouldn't do if the thing broke because it was in his pocket. "Later!" He called as he headed up the beach and onto a small trail to his left.

The trail was wide enough to fit a few people standing side to side, but he soon came across a problem. Namely, a boulder blocking the path. "Crap." He looked around until he saw an odd plant that reminded him of a bomb, he walked up to the nearby sign and read it aloud. "Danger! Do not attack the explosive fruit!"

Naruto raised a brow and looked to the bomb-shaped plant. "Who the hell would leave these lying around?" He wondered. He then got an idea and picked one of the fruit…that started to sizzle. "Oh shit." He muttered before throwing it at the boulder blocking his path. For a few moments nothing happened and Naruto began to get skeptical about it being explosive.

"Well that's anti-" ***Boom!* **He was interrupted, and knocked flat on his backside, by the explosion of the fruit that completely obliterated the boulder in his path. "Whoa!" He mumbled after he got up, thoroughly amazed by what a fruit the size of his head could do.

After taking a minute to shake of his amazement Naruto continued down the path until he came across another boulder. He looked around until he saw yet another explosive fruit nearby. This time he threw the fruit at the boulder and readied himself so that he wouldn't be knocked over by the explosion.

***Boom!*** And on his way he went until he came upon two things; yet another explosive plant…and a broken bridge. He looked around and saw a ledge that he could shimmy across to reach the other side of the bridge but the path was blocked by a boulder on the path before it. Deciding to do as he did to the others, he grabbed the explosive fruit and through it up onto the ledge where the boulder sat before climbing the path. There was a section that he was a bit too short to climb and had to jump and pull himself up, but that didn't stop him at all.

Once he'd shimmied across the ledge he dropped down to where the bridge ended and saw another confusing sight; a boulder jutting up from the ground that held up two stone blocks. Luckily there was another explosive plant nearby so he just through it to break the rock and made his way over to a walkway up through the island. When he exited he came across a familiar face.

"Mister postman!" He greeted.

The postman turned to greet him. "Naruto? Naruto, is that you?" He asked.

"The one and only!"

"I'm pleased to see you're okay." He cupped his chin thoughtfully. "I must say…you've traveled far for one with no wings…and your sister? Is she…" Naruto's face fell at that. "Is that so? Well, don't worry too much. I'm sure she'll hang in there. I have an idea, Naruto. Would you like to meet our chieftain? I've told my people about you, and all of us Rito are very concerned. I'm certain the chieftain will befriend you and lend you the aid of our aerie."

"Really?" The blond asked.

The postman nodded. "It's settled, then! I'll fly on ahead and let everyone know you're coming. Come inside, Naruto! I'll be waiting!" He said as his arms transformed into wings and he flew to a nearby cave entrance on a wooden deck.

Naruto followed the path up until he reached another cave entrance below the deck. Once he entered he saw a group of Rito had already gathered. At the forefront was a man wearing grey robes with green cuffs, and a red poncho. His hair was long and white like the rest of the Rito, and just like them he had a beak rather than a nose, but a clearly defining quality was the crown upon his head. Unlike the other Rito he had yellow eyes and a small brown beard. He was talking to another Rito that was flying a bit above him. "Well? Have you discovered the cause of the great Valoo's anger?" The man flying shook his head and flew off as Naruto walked forward.

"Ah. So, you are Naruto, are you?" The apparent leader greeted. "Quill has told me all about you." He said as he motioned to the postman Naruto had just been talking to. "A troubling tale, indeed…I insist that you let us know if there is anything we can do to help you. We shall do everything in our power to assist you." He frowned. "However, in the meantime, we have a problem of our own to deal with…"

It was here that Quill continued. "When you arrived on the island, did you notice the raging dragon perched atop the mountain?"

"Am I supposed to answer that?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

The king continued, ignoring him. "As you can see, we of the Rito tribe are profoundly connected to the sky. We make our livings on the airways." He paused. "We do so by the graces of the sky spirit, Valoo. When a Rito reaches adulthood, he or she journeys to the top of Dragon Roost to recieve a scale from the great dragon. It is the scale that enables the Rito to grow his or her wings."

"Magic." Naruto muttered in annoyance.

"Recently, however, the once-gentle Valoo has grown violent and unpredictable. Sadly, we can no longer approach him. If this continues, the fledge kings who are of age will never be able to receive scales from Valoo on Dragon Roost." He explained remorsefully. "They will remain wingless, and in time, our very way of life will be threatened. As chieftain of the Rito, my first responsibility is to solve this problem. My apologies, but I must ask you to wait for our assistance until this is done. Will you do so?"

Naruto sighed. "Crap. I needed something from your dragon to save my sister, well, I actually needed him to tell me where something is but if he's not in the mood I can wait."

Quill gave Naruto a thoughtful look before turning to the chieftain. "Chieftain, what do you think of consulting Naruto with regards to your son, Prince Komali? As you can see, Naruto is a gallant young lad! I feel certain that Prince Komali would open his heart to him and speak freely of his fears and worries."

The chieftain turned to Quill and thought about the offer. "That may be…" He muttered before turning back to the blond. "Let me be direct. My son, Komali, is of the age to earn his wings…yet…he is weak, in some ways…and in light of the current situation, he may just give up on ever getting them…what say you? Will you share some of your courage with my son?"

Naruto cupped his chin in thought. "I dunno, I can't exactly just _give_ him courage…but I'll try."

"I thank you! We shall do our best to solve our problem as quickly as possible, so that we may better help you with yours. I have something I wish for you to give to my son." He said.

Naruto stared for a long while at the chieftain. "And that would be…?"

"My apologies but I do not have it on my person. A young girl named Medli is holding it for me. Would you find her and take it?" The chieftain asked. "I am counting on you!" He added before walking away.

Quill then spoke up. "Here, Naruto, take this with you!" He said as he handed the boy a small bag that looked roughly as large and wide as a letter. "Who knows? It might come in handy."

"Thanks." Naruto said as he opened and looked through the bag, it had a lot of pockets besides the one for letters.

"You would find Medli in one of the upper rooms." The postman advised. "Leave the great Valoo to us. In the meanwhile, do your best to aid Prince Komali!" With that he flew off.

Naruto grinned and placed the bag he was just give onto his belt. "Alright, this Medli girl should be upstairs." He said before walking up the path to the second floor. He turned to look into the first door he passed and amazingly enough he saw a girl his age standing there. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and red eyes similar to the red of the Rito. She wore a grey dress with a white collar and a red poncho adorned with a sign that looked oddly familiar to the blond, but he couldn't place where he'd seen it before or the oddly find feeling he got when he looked at it. "Hey!" He called, gaining her attention.

"Yes?"

"Are you Medli?" He asked.

"Err, yes." The girl replied. "Who am I speaking to?"

Naruto grinned as he entered the room. "I'm Naruto. Your chieftain asked me to help his son get some courage, but he said he wanted to give him something and that you had it."

"Naruto…?" She asked, before her eyes widened. "Wow! You really do have green clothes and a strange-shaped hat…"

"…Thanks. That really makes me feel happy about wearing this." The blond replied dryly.

Medli gasped. "I'm sorry!" She apologized. "I spoke without thinking."

"It's fine…now a bout that thing from the chieftain…"

"Ah. Here!" The Rito-girl quickly said as she handed him an envelope. "This is from the chieftain. Prince Komali's room is way in the back on the first floor. When you meet Prince Komali, please don't get offended by his manner…he holds no bad intentions, I promise."

"That doesn't sound too good." Naruto remarked.

"By the way, um…listen, Naruto…I have a small favor I'd like to ask of you…" Medli said hesitantly.

Naruto nodded. "Sure, I don't have much else to do."

"Then, could you please come to the entrance of Dragon Roost Cavern later? I'll explain everything then."

"Got it." Naruto answered as he turned and left the room, choosing to jump down to the first floor rather than walk down. He looked around and saw that two of the three ways out of the main room led outside, so he decided to go through the third and last which led to a long hallway ending in a wooden door.

He entered the door and saw that it was no doubt the Prince's room. There were two stands that held clothes and…what he guessed were dolls of ducks of all things. There were also two boxes nearby him filled with what he saw were balls and yet more duck-like dolls. Finally, on the other side of the room was a bed where a Rito boy lay clutching an odd glowing orb. "Huh? Who are you supposed to be?" The boy asked when he noticed the blond.

"I'm Naruto." He introduced himself. "You're Komali right?"

"What do you want from me, huh?" The prince rudely replied. "I…I don't want to talk to anyone right now!"

Naruto could already tell the boy was going to get on his nerves so he just offered the envelope from the chieftain to the boy.

"A letter?" The younger boy took the letter and read the signature on it. "From my father?" He read it over quickly and sighed. "Oh, sure, telling me to be brave is easy enough for him…it's not like he's the one that went through that horrible experience…it's not like he still has to go get a scale from Valoo."

"What experience?" The blond asked curiously.

Komali frowned. "You're in this letter, too, you know…poking your nose in other people's business…you're nosy, aren't you?" He accused before turning away. "Sorry, but I really don't feel like going to see Valoo right now. I mean, how am I supposed to get a scale from him when he's so upset?"

"How about asking?" Naruto offered. "If not then just wait until he calms down and-"

"What?" The prince interrupted him. "Are you trying to say that _you_ can calm Valoo down?"

"I didn't say-"

"Pssh! That's just a big, fat lie!" The Rito continued. "It's easy to say you can do anything! Bragging doesn't cost a thing!" He paused. "I'll tell you what: if you can find me someone who can get past all the obstacles on Dragon Roost to get to Valoo…then I'll listen to anything you say!"

Naruto didn't reply, his face blank. "You know what? Alright." He said after a long silence. "I'll climb your mountain, beat whatever gods-damned trials your mountain has, and talk to your dragon. But! You're coming with me!"

"What! I just said-!" The prince tried.

"Yeah, but I didn't say that I could calm down your dragon, I didn't say that I could climb your mountain, and I wasn't being a prick to you!" Naruto shouted at the younger boy. "But you kept on shoving words in my mouth and didn't let me get a word in edgewise. So now I'm going up your mountain and you're coming with me!"

"But I-!"

"Shut up, we're going." Naruto declared as he picked up he prince, who refused to release the orb he was holding, and slung him over his shoulder. "Huh…you weigh as much as my little sister." He muttered as he carried the boy out.

Once he returned to the main room he decided to try the final exit on the first floor. "Where are you taking the Prince?" A guard asked.

"Up the mountain." Naruto answered.

"But- Valoo hasn't calmed!" The guard exclaimed.

"Don't care!" The blond called as he walked out. "This kid is getting one of those scales even if I have to cut I off that dragon!"

"Are you insane!" Komali shouted. "No one is dumb enough do anger the great Valoo that badly."

Naruto turned his head to glare at the prince, not stopping for a moment. "Call me no-one, then."

The guarded stared dumbfounded as Naruto carried Komali away before changing his arms into wings and flying off. "Chieftain!"

XXX XXX

The area Naruto came to was odd. It was a circular area where the mountain seemed to have never been. A harsh wind unlike what blew outside of the mountain beat against his face and nearby were five of what seemed to be withered versions of the explosive fruit from when he first came to the island. He walked forward to a wooden railing and looked down, from what he could see Medli was there so he was on the right track. Also, there seemed to be the broken remains to a bridge and a boulder in the middle of a small pond.

Naruto walked to one of the posts where the bridge would've connected and stopped. "You might want to hold onto that ball of yours, 'cause I'm gonna jump." He warned the prince.

"What?" Komali asked before Naruto jumped down to the area Medli was standing in.

"Hey! Medli!" The blond called.

"Ah, you actually came!" The girl greeted happily, before looking at the boy hung over the blond's shoulder curiously. "Who is that?" Naruto lifted the other boy and set him down.

It took all of two seconds for the situation to set itself into Medli's mind. Her eyes widened. "You brought the Prince here!?" She screeched.

Both boys stumbled from how loud she screamed. "In my defense, he was a real pain about getting cheered up." The blond began. "First, he just assumed I wanted something from him the second I walked into his room. Then when I tried to give him advice and tell him he could just wait for Valoo to calm down to get his scale, he just started shoving words in my mouth and saying that I said I could calm your dragon down. Then he said that unless I could bring him someone who can get past all the obstacles on Dragon Roost he wouldn't listen to me!"

"Do you know how dangerous Dragon Roost is?" Medli chastised.

"If anything happens I'll make sure that I get hurt instead. No harm done." Naruto said dismissively.

"And if you die!?"

Naruto became serious and he glared at the girl. "I won't die. I still have something important to do and I won't die until I do it." He stated with finality before looking around. "So how do I get into this place? I guess that the bridge was supposed to be the way but since its busted…"

Medli frowned but reluctantly motioned to the barren area around them. "You see this place? There used to be a spring here, surrounded by a beautiful pond…it was peaceful and lovely…" She explained, becoming wistful as she described how it used to be. "But then the great Valoo…he became so angry, and…in his rage, he shook the mountain and that boulder crashed down, plugging the spring. You can see the result."

"I see…" Naruto muttered before looking between the girl and oddly silent prince. "Do either of you have something I can put some water in?" He asked as he got an idea.

"Err…I have a bottle." The girl said as she held it out to him.

Naruto took it and took some water from what remained of the spring before heading for the remains of the bridge where he dropped down from. "I've got an idea." He called as he climbed up. He headed back towards the withered explosive fruit.

He poured the water onto the fruit and like magic, which he suspected played a part, they grew into the same plant he'd first seen. He quickly picked one and tossed it over to the boulder plugging the pond. "Hit the deck!" He shouted to the two Rito.

"Did he-" Komali began before Medli quickly pulled him away from the boulder.

***Boom!* **Once the boulder was out of the way water exploded from the spring, quickly filling the area to the point there was only a small area between the water and either post. Komali searched wildly for the orb that he dropped in surprise but soon enough it floated up beside him making him breathe a sigh of relief as he took it.

Naruto grinned and ran back around before jumping directly into the water. "Alright! You and me to that side Komali, there's no turning back here!" He called as he pulled the prince toward the other post.

"Wait!" Medli called as she followed them and climbed up the remains of the bridge to the post as well.

"What's up?" The blond asked as the harsh winds quickly began to dry his clothes.

"I want to go to the small shrine that's near the peak of Dragon Roost." She admitted. "So, would you please help me?"

The blond paused for a moment before grinning. "Sure."

Medli sighed in relief. "Thank you so much!"

Naruto then turned to Komali. "Alright kid, get ready because we're going all the way to the top." He moved to pick the boy up again but his hands were slapped away.

"I can walk!" The prince huffed as he reluctantly stood.

"Whatever. Lets go." With that they climbed the path until they came to another roadblock, this one being more deadly. It was a pool of lava with a metal statue of a Rito holding a pot to either side.

"How do you plan on getting past this?" Komali taunted.

Naruto looked around thoughtfully. "Let me see…" There were a few explosive fruit nearby…maybe if he used them to shake the statues they'd fall down? Giving it a try he threw it at the statue…only for it to land in the lava after bouncing off. The prince laughed but Naruto decided to continue, and this time tried to throw the bomb into the pot that was being held.

He succeeded and the statue fell, but the other side of the pool was still too far off. "Looks like the other statue needs to come down too." He muttered before bombing said statue and making it fall. He grinned when the statue landed next to the other so that he could jump across to the other side. "Lets go!" He called the Rito as he ran up the path to a cave.

"…How did he do that?" Medli asked as she and a reluctant Komali followed.

"I have no idea."

XXX XXX

Inside the cave was a stone archway with three stones sitting before it, with a stone head perched on each. The archway had two dragons painted onto it coming from the middle stone so Naruto guessed that was where the doorway inside was. He tried to pull the stone but found he couldn't so he tried the left, since the right one had rocks around it and obviously wouldn't be moving anytime soon. The left stone moved away so Naruto decided to try pulling the center stone into the left's original place. Unlike the first attempt now the stone moved and when Naruto returned to standing before the archway he could see the doorway was just where he guess red it would be.

It was then that the two Rito showed up. "Hey! Wait for us!" Medli called.

Naruto stopped and stood there until the two caught up and looked around the room. "This is what Dragon Roost looks like?" Komali asked wondrously.

Naruto raised a brow. "What do you mean 'this is what Dragon Roost looks like'? Didn't you try to get a scale before?"

"We do not enter Dragon Roost anymore, Naruto." Medli answered. "It is too dangerous so those of age are flown to the top of the mountain, and instead must fly down without help."

"Right…well, come on!" The blond said as he led them through the archway's door. The room they now stood in had two paths leading down of the floor, one on either side. After that it was a straight shot to the door…that was guarded.

"What are those?" Komali asked.

Medli stared at the monsters in confusion as well. "Those were never referenced from what I read about Dragon Roost."

"They're monsters." Naruto informed them. "I've killed a few on my home island so let me deal with them." He said as he unsheathed his sword and walked forward. The monsters were exactly like the original ones he faced, and he could probably easily kill them, but they held sticks that were on fire so it wasn't wise to use his _wooden_ shield to protect himself.

Once he was close enough for the monsters to notice they charged. He swung his sword and cut through the first's stick before dodging a swing from the second and slashing its arm. He then stabbed the second monster through its stomach a few times until he was kicked in the back of the head. "Ow." He grunted as he leaned forward, before turning around and stabbing the first monster in the eye. Surprisingly enough that killed it in one hit…he then turned his attention back to the second monster and gave a horizontal slice to its stomach, followed by another before he stepped back and stabbed it through the chest.

Once the second monster exploded into darkness the blond motioned the two Rito over. "What was that?" Komali asked.

"What was what?"

"You were kicked in the head. I thought you were some kind of expert?" The prince clarified dully.

Naruto gave him an equally dull look. "That was the third time I've ever fought these things, I'm lucky I'm not any worse!" He argued.

Medli then spoke from the doorway ahead. "Hey, the door is locked!" She exclaimed. Oddly enough the door had a small padlock on it with chains heading both under and over it.

The blond locked up to her. "Isn't it supposed to be? You just said this place isn't used anymore about five minutes ago."

Medli shook her head. "Even if no one uses it it's never closed." She looked to the areas where the monsters exploded. "Do you think they did it?"

"I dunno, but I doubt it. They're pretty stupid from what I've seen." Naruto answered. He then looked around. "So where do you think they put the key?"

Medli looked around as well before spotting a pair of stands holding up unlit torches with a small metal platform between them. "That wasn't there before." She stated confusedly as the two boys walked up to her.

"So we light the torches then?" Naruto asked.

"How can you two see that?" Komali asked as he squinted his eyes. "I can't see anything!"

"Eat some carrots, they're good for your eyes." The blond advised as he walked back towards the still burning sticks the monsters had dropped before dying. He picked one up before hurrying over to the torches.

"Why are you in such a rush?" The prince asked. "You don't even have any reason to climb Dragon Roost besides proving me wrong."

"Wrong." Naruto said as he lit the first torch. "I need to ask your dragon for something so I can go save my sister."

"Save your- what the hell?" Medli interrupted herself when the lighting of the second torch caused a chest to appear on the platform.

Naruto raised a brow at the event but shook off his amazement. _Probably magic_. He thought to himself as he opened the chest and found a single silver key. "Isn't this a waste? Just leaving a key in this and nothing else?" He asked while picking it up.

The two Rito looked at each other incredulously, both thinking; _That's what he's surprised about?_ Before following him back to the door and past it once the blond opened it.

Behind the door was a small walkway leading up to a archway that was boarded up. From what the three could tell it had been a long time since it was boarded up because the boards were mostly broken or showed signs of having termites eating at them for a long time. Naruto ignored that fact and kicked the boards down once they were close enough, which showed the real room.

It was what they guessed as the inside of the mountain, which was actually a volcano of all things! The room was massive and rose all the way into darkness that showed it was taller than the light from the lava under them and that the volcano was capped. Now it was hard to breathe from the toxic gasses in the air, not that any of them knew that. Running along the walls of the cave were wooden walkways that, amazingly, hasn't been melted or burned. In the very middle of the room was a long wooden bridge going from one side of the room to the other. Directly across from them was a small circular area with stalagmites and stalactites marking the edges like teeth, with two white paintings similar to eyes above either side of it.

"How the hell hasn't any of this stuff burned!?" Naruto demanded. "There are pillars of lava shooting up every few seconds!"

"This is Dragon Roost?" Komali asked in a subdued voice.

Medli looked between the boys. "Dragon Roost isn't supposed to be like this." She muttered as she gazed around the room and pulled the collar of her dress over her beak. "The air is poisonous, don't breath it in!" She warned.

Naruto gave her a shocked look before following her example, with the prince also doing so. "So where are we going?" He asked.

The red-eyed girl looked around. To their right was a boulder and to their left were two paths. "That door leads up through Dragon Roost, the walkway leads to storage rooms."

The three headed to the door only to find it locked. "I guess we're heading the other way then." The blond sighed. He then led the other two through the walkway until they came upon a part where it was missing. Luckily enough there was an area where it was missing for them to stand on, but unluckily it was just underneath their current level so that none of them would be able to jump onto the other side.

"Um…" The only girl of the group hummed wonderingly, looking around for a way across.

"Hmm…" The blond scratched his head. "Maybe if I push you two up and then you pull me up?"

"I thought you said you were going to climb Dragon Roost?" Komali scoffed. "Any Rito could just fly over it."

"Well I'm human, you don't have your dragon scale that lets you magically grow wings, and Medli…" Naruto trailed off.

"I don't have one either." The girl responded.

"Right, so we have to work together to climb this place." The blond retorted. "So some on!" He said as he jumped down.

Medli and Komali soon followed and soon they came upon another problem. "Who goes first?" Naruto asked the two Rito.

Medli looked between herself and the prince. "I think that the prince should go first."

Naruto nodded and kneeled in front of the walkway with his hands out. "Alright kid, come on and I'll give you a boost."

Komali scowled as he walked up to the blond, who grabbed him by his legs and lifted him up to the walkway. The prince raised his arms, now holding his orb between his upper-arms and chin, and tried to grab the ledge. "Higher!" He directed the blond.

Naruto lifted the boy as high as he could but it still wasn't enough as the younger boy complained. Taking a deep breath, he crouched a bit and got a firm hold on the boy's legs before throwing him up onto the ledge. "You okay?" He called one he heard the dull *thud* of something landing.

"You idiot!" The boy called as he leaned over the ledge. "I almost dropped-"

Naruto waved him off. "You didn't drop it so its fine!" He said dismissively before turning to Medli. "Your turn."

Medli gulped audibly in fear as she stepped forward. "Please don't throw me."

"As long as you're tall enough I won't need to." The blond answered before wrapping his arms around her legs and lifting.

"A little higher." Naruto obliged by moving his arms under her feet and lifting them over his head. "Whoa!" The girl cried as she suddenly found herself with no support. She quickly grabbed the ledge and pulled herself up before turning around and offering her hand.

Naruto reached up but was a bit too short so he jumped and took her hand.

Medli grunted as she found herself hitting the floor with her arm feeling like it was about to snap. "Ugh! You weigh a ton!" She said as she struggled to take Naruto's other hand as well.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he tried his best to do as she was doing. "People say I'm lighter than I should be."

"You way as much as a grown man!" Medli grunted as she finally took his other hand and began the daunting task of pulling him up.

Naruto frowned. He couldn't tell if he was being insulted or she actually thought he weighed that much so he just kept his mouth shut, after all, if he pissed her off then he wouldn't have anyone to talk to while they climbed the mountain. Once she managed to pull him up enough that he could grab the ledge and do the rest he noticed something odd: Komali was just standing a few feet away throwing his orb into the air before struggling to catch it.

"What are you doing?" The blond asked confusedly.

Komali turned to look back at him before running behind him. "There were flying monsters swooping down to attack Medli when she was pulling you up. When I came to warn her they flew off, after they came back I tried to chase them of but they attacked me." He glanced at his orb. "They're afraid of the light from-" He was stopped from continuing when Naruto placed a hand on his head. "Hey!"

Naruto grinned at the boy. "Thanks for the help kid." He thanked before stepping forward and drawing his sword. "I'll take care of those monsters if they come around again, but just in case, you mind sharing that thing with Medli? I don't think she has anything to protect her from monsters."

Komali looked at the girl in question, who was rubbing her arms with a wince, and nodded quietly. "Fine." He agreed before they continued on their journey through the mountain. For a while there was nothing but a wooden walkway until they came up upon one of the edges of the bridges marking the center of the room…or at least the broken area to it.

"There should be a walkway there!" Medli exclaimed as she stood on the ledge closest to the distant column rising from the lava where the bridge was set upon. "What happened?"

Naruto scowled as he eyes the distance between the column and where they currently stood. It was about ten feet away and about three feet lower than them.

"Well it looks like there's nowhere else to go." Komali stated tauntingly to Naruto. "I guess we'll have to go back."

"We can make it." The blond argued.

"What?" Both the Rito asked.

"If we jump, we can make it." Naruto clarified. "We have enough room for a running start and the bridge ends low enough that we can jump over to it."

Medli gave him a look that said how much she questioned his sanity. "You're kidding…right?" She asked hopefully.

Naruto just threw his sword over and stepped back to the wall and crouched a bit in preparation. "Watch." Was all he said before he took off towards the ledge. Just a moment before he would've stepped off the ledge he jumped a distance that didn't seem normal for someone his age, actually managing to cover the distance to the column. Though he had to latch onto the ledge with his hands and pull himself up manually it was still an impressive feat. He then turned back to the others with a grin. "What're you waiting for!? Come on!" It was then that a pillar of lava momentarily burst from the pool below them in showing just what could go wrong with what he had done.

Komali and Medli looked between themselves before looking back to him. "No!" They said as one, before Komali continued. "You might be stupid enough to do that, but we aren't!"

Naruto sighed and picked up his sword. "How are you going to protect yourselves then!? I'm the one with the sword!" He argued.

Medli responded to that by pointing towards where they came from. "We'll head back to the entrance and wait for you! There should be a way there from across the bridge!" She informed him.

"And you didn't say this earlier, why!?"

"I didn't remember!" Was the girl's reply.

Naruto sighed before reluctantly nodding. "Alright, I'll see you there!" He agreed before turning around. "I'll be right there!" He added before taking off across the bridge. On the other side he came across another column that held a pair of explosive fruit, and across yet another, smaller bridge was a boulder.

So far on the island blowing up boulders did good things so Naruto decided that he should probably continue to do that. Picking a fruit and quickly throwing it at the boulder's side, as to not destroy the bridge, he watched it destroy the boulder and reveal a small doorway. Without a moment of hesitation he ran over and entered the room.

This room was odd. Rather than being massive it had a small pool of lava right in the middle of it! The pool separated one side of the room from the other, as well as a small area with a chest. The side he was on was bare aside from a few large pots of…water if the markings on the sides of the pots were right. Across from him was a small area where a ladder rose up into another room, the area also had pots filled with what he guessed was water. Deciding that he might find a key inside of the chest he walked over to the side of his area closest to it. The way was a bit too far for him to jump, maybe if he had a platform? Too bad there weren't any.

_Maybe if I threw a pot in and jumped on it before I jump to the chest?_ He wondered. He threw a pot filled with water into the lava, which melted it instantly. Surprisingly, to him at least, the water cooled the lava enough to create a small black platform of stone. Not skipping such a stroke of luck he jumped across to the chest and opened it to see…a map.

"What the hell? I need a key dammit!" He complained. Taking one of the conveniently placed pots behind the chest he threw it into the lava before jumping to the area with a ladder and climbing up it. There was a door which he hurriedly entered.

"Key…key…where's that damn key?" He muttered as he looked around the room. It was a bit dull and mostly circular with two other exits that were boarded up. Rather than heading straight ahead where he could plainly see the way was a dead-end through large holes in the wood, he headed right and broke through the boards. To his left was a small area that was boarded up but had two stands holding up unlit torches in front of it.

He climbed up the small ledge just high enough that he needed to jump, he broke the boards to find a chest not unlike where he had previously found a key. He opened it with a grin and took the key he found inside happily. Once he turned around he saw that there was a door straight ahead.

Things were looking up.

On the other side of the door he found he was back in the large room a bit behind what he guessed was the boulder to the right of the entrance. Luckily enough there was an explosive fruit growing from the wall in front of the boulder and a pot nearby…time to see what happened if he attacked it.

"Medli!" He heard Komali suddenly yell. With haste he threw the pot at the fruit and was thrown back into the floor by the explosion. He quickly got back to his feet and ran across the way to the entrance.

But by then it was too late. All he found was Komali sobbing to himself on the ground. "Kid, what happened!?" He asked.

The prince turned to him before sobbing louder. "Monsters came and they- they took Medli and my pearl!" He choked out.

"Y-your pearl!?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Medli was kidnapped and you're worried about that thing!?"

Komali glared at him. "My grandma left me that pearl! It's all I have left of her!" He clenched his fists. "But you…if you didn't drag me here those monsters wouldn't have taken it! Now look what happened!" He yelled at the blond.

Naruto felt guilty at that turn of events. "I…sorry." He apologized. He then turned to the locked doorway ahead of them. "…You can go back if you want to. I'll go get Medli and your pearl."

"No!" Komali growled. "You already messed this up! I'm going to go get it back myself!" He ran over to the door and started trying to open it, getting angrier and angrier each time he failed until Naruto stepped up and unlocked it with the key he found.

"Then…I'll go and get Medli while you get your pearl." The blond offered.

A scowl was all he got before the younger boy marched through the door. He sighed and followed through a small hall until they reached a door with bars keeping them from opening it or passing through. He looked around and saw two blocked off areas to either side of them.

"Maybe there's something-" He began as he advanced towards one, but was cut off as a monster wielding a stick burst out and attacked him. Caught off guard he was tackled to the floor and had the stick broken on his forehead. It hurt like all hell and left him a bit dazed but he had enough sense within his pained mind to push the monster off of him and back away.

"Ugh…fuck." He muttered while he held his head.

"Look out!" Komali warned. The blond looked up just in time to see the monster coming to bite him. Just a moment before he would've been tackled again he brought his foot up and kicked the thing in the face, then proceeded to take his sword out and stab down into its skull. Amazingly that was enough to kill it. Maybe it was easier to kill them if he aimed at the head? Or was his kick strong?

He shook himself of the thought and turned to the other boarded up section of the room. With a silent motion towards the prince to stay quiet he tiptoed over to the boards and stood at one side of them. After a moment of no monster jumping out he tapped the boards with his blade, the immediate result was the monster jumping out and Naruto subsequently raising his sword overhead to bring down upon his opponent. It's arm was cleaved off making it shriek and turn to him, rushing at him in a frenzy which while scary was useless. The blond started slashing at it without pause, a small combo was made of vertical attacks which ended in him spinning and cutting the monster in half.

The moment the monster exploded into a cloud of darkness the bars keeping the door closed raised themselves. Both boys raised a brow at this, one in wonder and the other in irritation. "You have to defeat all the monsters in a room to advance?" The prince asked aloud.

"I have to kill all these things to keep going!?" Naruto demanded.

The two looked at each other before the younger one huffed and walked through the door. Naruto sighed and followed him. Now they were outside on a ledge of the volcano. To their right was rickety bridge, with a monster on the other side of it. "Crap." The blond muttered. Just passed the bridge on another ledge was a ladder heading upwards onto yet _another_ ledge.

With a sigh Naruto walked forward. "I'll deal with it." He groaned as the monster charged at him. At the last moment he had an amazing thought and simply kicked the monster off the bridge. He smiled, at least one part of the journey up the volcano would be easy. He turned halfway around and waved the younger boy over before finishing his own crossing and beginning to climb up the ladder.

As he was halfway up he heard a rumbling that caused him to look forward and what he found was a stream of fire coming straight at him. He dropped without even a thought as the fire enveloped the ladder, and just as Komali finished crossing the bridge himself. Incredibly, the fire didn't run its course on the wood and merely turned it black before receding back into the volcano. With a grunt, as he hit the ground rather hard, the blond stood. "Why didn't the fire burn the ladder?" He asked the prince.

Komali rolled his eyes. "Why would wood be used to build on and in a _volcano_ if it wasn't enchanted to be fire-proof?" He asked sarcastically in return.

Grumbling about the remark Naruto began to climb up again, this time faster in case the fire spouted. Once he was up he heard an odd noise that sounded like a mix of a bird's 'squawk' and a 'buzz'. He turned his head and saw an large vulture. It had blue feathers covering its torso and wings, with those around the edges of it being white in color. The feathers on its neck and head however were a red color, white it's tail was a pinstripe of neon-green and gold. It had wide, green eyes with excessively large white feathers just above it acting like eyebrows and a beak large enough to take his entire head!

He gulped and raised his sword against it as it flew at him. With a beak that large he didn't want to have any of his limbs near it. Just in case, he retrieved his shield as well. As it neared him and opened its maw he bashed his shield on it's head before swinging at it's wing. He missed as it quickly flapped its wings to fly away but soon enough it was coming back for another attempt at a bite. This time he bashed it and immediately cut its head off, deciding to go for its incredibly long neck rather than its wing. It soon enough exploded into a dark cloud signifying it was a monster, but rather than leaving nothing behind as the…_Well I guess I can't just call them monsters forever…I'll call it a Bokoblin._ Instead of leaving nothing behind as a Bokoblin would, out of the smoke flew a large golden feather.

Naruto gazed at the feather amazedly before grabbing it. "Whoa…this thing is cool." He murmured before placing it within his Spoils Bag. A golden feather definitely counted as a spoil.

Soon enough Komali finished climbing the ladder and they began to search the area for a path again. This time there were three planks running along the area between their current ledge to another, with a crack in the volcano shooting out fire over it every so often. On the other ledge, they could only see a door. The two waited for the fire to stop spouting before racing across the planks and through the door.

The room they came to had three stacks of blocks on the far end, with the stacks on either side having three each while the central stack had four. Naruto raised a brow at that and walked up to the central stack. He pulled upon the stack's bottom block and found that while it moved the others didn't.

"What the hell?" He said in sheer awe at the defiance of logic, though it was actually physics he didn't know that.

"Magic." Komali said dismissively.

Naruto sighed and finished pulling the block out. It was then that physics applied to the blocks and forced them to fall, revealing a secret doorway that was hidden by the fourth block. With a grin Naruto climbed up the recently pulled block before pulling the now-middle block halfway out and climbing it, then climbing up the final block and running through the doorway.

He felt an odd vibration within his pocket and reached inside. He felt two things; one was the stone Tetra had given him, the other was the scroll Orca had given him. _How did I forget about that?_ He wondered to himself. Despite that thought he pulled out the vibrating stone and gazed at it wonderingly. "Tetra?" He asked.

"Finally!" The pirates voice answered. "Where the hell are you!?" She then demanded. "We've been looking for you for days!"

"Really?" He asked.

"Of course, you idiot! After you were tossed by that bird we started looking for you but the stone stopped working!" She explained. "And now that it started working again the first thing I see is you climbing a mountain with some kid!"

Naruto sighed. "Sorry for worrying you…but me climbing the mountain…it's complicated. I got picked up by some talking boat-"

"A talking boat?" The pirate interrupted incredulously.

"I know, I was surprised too. I'll show him to you later." He promised. "Anyway, it had me come to this island to ask a dragon for something called 'Din's Pearl'. Apparently I need it to save Aryll and fight the guy giving that bird orders."

"…I see." She stated neutrally. "Whatever. Just don't get yourself killed before you have the chance to give the stone back to me."

"I'm not going to die. I still need to save Aryll." He replied before the stone finished vibrating. Taking that as a cue that the talk was finished he stuffed it back into his pocket and began to search the room. To his right was a ladder heading up a few feet to a boarded up area, and to his left was a small block in the wall that was situated where he could climb up if he stood on it. The area above the block had a locked door so taking a guess he headed right and up the ladder.

He cut the boards, which were noticeably stronger than the pas ones, with his sword and saw a chest behind them. He hurriedly opened it to find the key he was looking for before turning around and jumping down to the entrance, just as Komali finally entered the room. The boy looked around before furrowing his brow. "Who were you talking to?" He asked.

Naruto waved him off and began to pull out the block. "Don't worry about it." He replied before climbing up and heading to the door. "Come on!" He said as he unlocked said door and headed…outside again.

To his left, he could see the ledge they had entered the volcano from just a few minutes ago. To his right was a set of stairs heading up to an area with a door. Also, there was a small walkway heading out from the area where a vulture had made it's nest. "I should take care of that before the kid comes out." He muttered before running up the stairs and taking out his sword and shield again.

Immediately after spotting him the vulture took off and straight towards him. He raised his shield and blocked its maw, then beheaded it like the last one. He grinned, this monster was a joke compared to the other ones. The moment he turned around his grin vanished as he noticed the door was locked.

"…Crap."

Soon enough Komali was standing next to him staring at the door. After a moment he spoke, "Well? Open it."

"I don't have the key." The blond replied.

"Did you check that nest?" The prince asked while turning to look at the nest of the vulture.

"You check it…I already killed the bird." Naruto directed.

Komali sighed and ran over to the nest. He began to pull at the twigs making up the nest until a bit of shiny silver came into his view. He quickly pulled it from the nest and ran back to the door. As soon as it opened the two boys stepped through and into the volcano once more.

Once inside they saw that to their right was a lot filled with sticks. Directly before them was a stand with a lit torch on top of it. To their left was a walkway leading to a stand with an unlit torch. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they'd need to do.

Naruto sheathed his sword and shield before taking a stick in one hand and picking up Komali with the other. He lit the stick on the lantern and took off down the walkway. He lit the torch quickly before the boy he was carrying spoke up, "To your right!" Looking to his right he saw two more torches before a barred door. He ran over and lit the torches, making the hard raise as he heard a chattering noise. The two glanced back into the walkway before paling at the sight of dozens of bats. "Door!" The prince yelled, not needing to express the meaning of his statement as the blond entered it immediately.

They found themselves once again in the giant central room, but now a few hundred feet over where they originally stood. Before them was a bridge stretching to the opposite side of the room where a door was. To their left and slightly higher than them was a birdcage-like object with metal bars and a stone base. After a moment a pillar of lava shot up and actually touched the base of the object and signaling for the boys to get the hell out of there. Still carrying the younger boy Naruto sped across the bridge and through the door.

In the center of the room was a Bokoblin carrying a sword. It growled as the door behind him shut…and proceeded to bar itself! The blond dropped the boy and drew his sword, blocking a wild swing from the monster before kicking it in the stomach and pushing its blade away. Then he proceeded to stab into it's skull. As soon as the Bokoblin exploded into darkness another one broke free from a pot and took its place.

This Bokoblin was armed only with a stick and had been quickly cut down when Naruto lifted the past enemy's sword and used it as well. The next Bokoblin that came after than met the same fate of being killed, this one stabbed repeatedly in the stomach without pause. It was then that the bars on the door rose at the same time as bars from a door on a walkway above them, the ladder to which was directly across from them.

Naruto dropped the second sword and began panting.

Komali stared at him for a bit before tentatively asking, "Are you alright?"

The blond shook his head. "No…I just noticed how tired I am. Climbing a volcano, fighting monsters, finding hidden ways up the volcano…" He listed. "I'm pretty tired, I wish I had something to give me some energy."

Komali looked up at the door. "The top of Dragon Roost isn't too far, just keep going." He encouraged before climbing the ladder.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one fighting!" Naruto complained as he climbed and followed the boy through the door.

The room was…odd. Before them were multiple pots of water, as Naruto had learned. To their left however was a pool of lava with a small island of stone just within jumping distance, on it however was an odd worm-like insect that looked to be made of stone! "Drown it." Naruto ordered the younger boy.

"What?"

"Take a pot and throw it on that thing…bugs don't like water so it should work."

The prince gave him an expectably disbelieving look but did as asked, picked up a pot and threw it onto the 'insect'. To his surprise it curled up on itself just as a pillar of lava rose. The pillar drew Naruto's attention to a wooden walkway where it peaked. Looking between the pillar and the water-pots an idea formed in his head. "Komali." He called, making the boy turn to him as he grabbed a pot. "Do you trust me?"

"Do I trust you?" It was a tough question to answer. On one hand he was responsible for the loss of his grandmother's pearl and Medli, on the other hand he was the reason why they made it that far in the first place. Rather than running off when Medli was taken, the blond stayed with him and helped him climb the mountain by slaying the monsters that he couldn't have possibly beaten. He didn't even have a weapon for the gods' sakes! Deciding to 'go out on a limb' so to speak, he replied, "Yes."

"Then jump next to the bug." Naruto said as he did exactly that.

The prince's jaw dropped. "What!? Why!?"

"Trust me." Was the blond's reply.

Grumbling about his decision Komali followed him onto the small stone 'island'. "Now what?"

Naruto threw the pot where the lava began to bubble before jumping into the odd stone platform that the water created. "Come on!" He said.

Figuring out what the blond had in mind Komali began to freak out. "You're crazy!"

"Trust me." After a few moments of hesitation he added. "It's me or the bug."

The prince turned to see the bug beginning to unfurl and jumped next to Naruto mere moments before a pillar of lava sent them upwards. Once the lava peaked he was grabbed and pulled onto the wooden walkway.

Naruto grinned as he let go of the boy. "See, it wasn't that bad was it?"

Komali opened his mouth to argue but from what he'd experienced with the blond he knew his words would fall on deaf ears. Still, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be…for the most part. Aside from the monsters and lava pillar just then, climbing Dragon Roost was much easier than he thought it would be. "I…I guess not." He murmured as they walked over to the door leading to the next room.

The next room was large. To their right was a pool of lava and on the other side of it was a small incline leading to a large door with a massive lock on it. Before them however was nothing but a path to the left.

"…If I remember the way we came in right…the way to the left should lead outside." The blond then blinked and reached into the pocket he didn't have Tetra's stone in, the one where he had stuffed the map from earlier. "I have a map!"

"You have a map?" Komali asked in disbelief. "All this time you've had a map?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I kinda forgot about it when I heard Medli was taken away." He uncrumpled the map and looked over it. "…Yeah. The way outside is just over there, then we head up to the top of Dragon Roost through some stairway."

"Then what are you waiting for?" The younger boy asked as he headed over through the small passage and to the door. The blond followed him outside and immediately they heard a roar, followed by the sound of something being smashed.

"We should hurry." The blond said before they ran up the stairs to their right, which began to collapse after them!

At the top of the stairs was a metal gate. The two peaked inside to see a pair of green Bokoblins wielding swords and wooden shields guarding a wooden prison situated directly under a massive dragon with red scales. Inside the small prison was a familiar girl. "Medli…" Naruto muttered before turning to Komali. "I'll take care of those Bokoblins, stay here." With that he entered the gate that shut behind him, alerting the Bokoblins and Medli to his presence.

The two Bokoblin rushed at him with their swords raised as he drew his sword and shield. One swung at his chest and the other at his legs. He blocked the one aiming for his legs while ducking under the other, then kicked the higher-aiming one back and pushed the other's sword away. He stabbed the closer one and stepped back when the other tried biting at him. He bashed the biting monster with his shield before hacking its sword-arm off, followed by jumping from the other Bokoblin attempting to skewer him. He decided to finish off the one-armed Bokoblin off first and proceeded to stab it in the eye.

Now that he could focus his full attention on the other one he stepped aside from yet another stab before knocking it's blade down and smashed its face. What followed that was him stabbing it until it exploded into darkness.

It was then that things took a turn for the worse as a vulture dropped off one of the pig-men he saw at the Forsaken Fortress. He gulped at the sight of it. "Shit…" He cursed. It pushed him to the ground with it's spear before raising it.

With little else to do, Naruto blocked with his sword. It took one hand on the hilt and another on the side of the blade to barely hold back the spear when it came down. He didn't know where he got the strength but he did get it and once the monster slightly lessened its force he forced its weapon up and rolled forward, jumping up and cleaving its flesh open.

The monster made a squeal-like scream before pulling a fist back and punching the blond, sending him flying into a wall.

"Naruto!" Both Rito yelled from their positions behind bars.

Naruto groaned and stood up. "I don't feel too good." He said before he leaned forward and threw up. It wasn't just food he puked though, it was blood as well. The monster was strong, it must've not really been trying to kill him with it's spear because its punch alone made him feel his bones crack! Hitting the wall didn't help things either.

As the monster stomped over to him he raised his sword. Once it was upon him he just side-stepped every attack it threw at him, he couldn't afford to take another hit, the edges of his vision were black as it was!

Once the monster raised it's spear he rolled around it and cleaved the monster's back open. Yet another squeal and he barely blocked a punch with his shield and _both arms_, he was still sent flying back too! He didn't impact on anything as his back was facing the largest space but he still ended up falling on his back. He tried to get up but by then the monster had charged and was stabbing at his legs, he rolled away from each stab but it was getting closer to hitting him with each consecutive attack. When the pig-man got angry and slammed a fist down on the ground he jumped at the chance, cutting the hand off! Luckily that was the hand holding the spear.

Unluckily, now it was trying to stomp him to death. He crawled away until he hit the wall before rolling over as the beast tried stomping on his skull. He took the opportunity and cut off it's leg. Now unbalanced the monster toppled over away from Naruto. The blond crawled away until he hit yet another wall, whereupon he was lifted up by his shoulders. He could barely hear someone calling his name and turned to them. It was Medli. She was saying something but he couldn't even hear anymore.

His head hurt, his stomach hurt, his back hurt, _everything_ hurt. He was tired, he could barely stand on his shaky legs. Medli pointed to something and he followed, it was the monster's cut-off hand holding it's spear. He cluelessly turned back around and saw the girl saying something but couldn't understand, it was when she made motions of lifting something up and bringing it down that he guessed she wander him to use it. He was confused and he must've raised a brow because she pointed at something else…the monster writhing around on the floor.

Oh! She must've wanted him to use the spear on it. He nodded as best he could and stumbled over to the weapon. He struggled to pick it up but managed to do it, then used it to stumble back over to the monster. He glared down at it as he raised the weapon before bringing it down and chopping it's head off.

Once that was done he watched it explode into smoke, but that was it before everything went black and he passed out. Oddly enough just as he did so his hearing returned to him and let him hear Medli and Komali call his name.

XXX XXX

"Ugh…" Naruto groaned as he woke up.

A familiar voice gasped before calling out. "Komali, he's waking up!"

"What!?" The prince's voice asked.

Naruto opened his eyes to see Medli looking down at him. He blinked. "Huh?"

The girl picked him up and pulled him into a hug. "You're okay!" She cried happily. "I was worried when I saw that your head was bleeding and you must've had a few bones broken from that punch, but you're okay!"

"What?" Naruto asked as he ran a hand through his hair. She was right, part of it was rough but would break at the touch like he'd been bleeding slightly and it had barely scabbed over. "I'm okay?" He asked.

Medlilet him go and nodded with a smile. "Yes, some healing magic flowed into you just before you passed out! If it had been any later though…" She shook her head. "Let's not think about that."

The blond nodded. "Yeah." He murmured in agreement before fully realizing the situation he was in. "Oh yeah!" He stood up and bowed to the girl. "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?" Medli asked. "Sorry for what?"

"When you were taken I wasn't around to protect you…" He said apologetically. "If I hadn't left you and Komali alone it wouldn't have happened."

Medli smiled slightly at that. "It's alright. If you hadn't come in the first place…I would've tried climbing Dragon Roost alone and there wouldn't have been anyone to save me." She explained. "So, thank you for saving me."

Naruto smiled but still felt a bit guilty. After a moment he remembered something from earlier and reached into his Spoils Bag. He retrieved the golden feather he gained from defeating a vulture and offered it to the girl. "Here!"

Medli stared at the feather for a long moment before tentatively taking it. "This is…"

"I know you don't think I should be apologizing, and it's not much of an apology, but I'm still sorry. I got that feather from some vulture-thing while me and Komali were climbing up here to save you, but you can have it."

Medli smiled a bit wider and placed the feather in her collar. She then stood and did something the blond didn't expect; kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

Naruto just blushed and turned away. "What was that for?"

"You gave me a beautiful feather as an apology I don't want." Medli began. "You don't want my thanks but I don't have a feather to give you, so I gave you that instead."

Still blushing, the blond decided to change the subject. "So where's Komali…?" He asked while looking around. "Shouldn't he be here too?"

"I'm up here!" The prince's voice came from above.

Naruto looked up into the sky and saw the boy flying with a pair of white wings. He grinned. "You got a scale!"

Komali flew down and landed before him, smiling brightly. "Yeah!" He then flapped his wings and took off again. "This is amazing!" He exclaimed as he flew back into the sky.

Medli giggled. "He's much happier now that he's seen you're alright. Just a minute ago he was making sad circles in the sky, then when you woke up he was flying all around like he would never fly again." She then reached to her side and lifted up the boy's pearl. "It might also be because his pearl is here too."

Naruto chuckled. "I guess he isn't so bad." It was then that the dragon, who he presumed was Valoo, began thrashing in place and roaring again.

"Oh!" Medli turned serious. "I have to tell you what I found out! It's terrible!" Naruto gave her his full attention and she continued, "Some creature is doing awful things to the grat Valoo's tail! That's why he's so angry!" She paused as the dragons roars became louder and continued when they died down a bit. "The great Valoo's tail hangs down into the room right below here. The creature must be in there…I wonder if the monsters who vs three me have something to do with it…"

"Probably." Naruto agreed.

"We've got to do something now, before its too late!"

"That might be a problem." The blond said dryly. "The room that's below us…I'm pretty sure it's one that has a pretty big lock on it." He shook his head and motioned to Komali flying around above them, having lowered his altitude when Valoo began to roar. "You take the kid and get the others. I'll go and try to find the key."

Medli's smile faltered for a moment before she nodded and reached behind herself, pulling out a rope she had hid behind her harp. "Here, use this to get out of here! I planned to use it to get here, but I didn't get to use it."

Naruto examined the rope, which was fairly long though wound to keep compact, and found there was a metal object shaped like a bird's talon at the end of one side. "What is it?" He asked.

"It's a device we Rito used before we evolved wings." The girl explained. "It's a Grappling Hook. It might not look like it will work, but it's magically enchanted to grab onto things when you want it to." She then pointed to a ledge to the left of the area she was held. "Climb up on that ledge over there so I can show you something." After that she flew up onto a small pole that jutted from the rock above them.

Naruto nodded and stood. He ran over to the steps heading up to the ledge but noticed something at the base of them. Laying there was the spear that the pig-man held and that he killed said pig-man with. He stared at it for a while before picking it up. "…I'm keeping this." He stated before continuing up the steps and looking to Medli.

The Rito motioned across from him where another ledge was, one leading through a small crevice. "Grab this pole with your Grappling Hook and you can swing over there to get out of this area!"

He nodded and swung the 'hooked' end of the rope in small circles. "Are you two going to be alright flying down with him like that?" He asked while nodding his head at the dragon.

"Don't you worry about us, Naruto. Get going!"

"Alright!" The blond relented before throwing the 'hook' and using it to swing from the pole. Just as Medli said it grabbed onto the pole as he wanted and once he had swung into position to reach the other side it let go. "Later!" He called back as he ran through the small crevice. It ended in a boarded up area but he just kicked through it.

…The other side had nothing to stand on. He had been running when he broke the boards and simply jumped through them. He fell about twenty feet before landing on his rear in front of the door he and Komali exited before climbing the stairs."Ow!" He cried as he stood. He looked around and saw that to his left there was a pole leading to another ledge with another pole farther than that. He lifted the item he just attained and sighed. "I'm going to be using this a lot, aren't I?"

He swung on the poles until he came upon a door in a shadowed area. Once he entered he saw a ledge a bit away where stalactites formed a mouth, with the exception of the from where a bridge was. He began to walk across the bridge until he heard two snapping noises. Looking up he saw a Bokoblin at the other end of the bridge and that the ropes were cut.

"…You son of a-!" He screamed as he fell. It wasn't too far of a drop and it didn't hurt anywhere near as much as how he'd fallen a minute ago but I still hurt. It didn't matter though as directly ahead of him was a door which he ran through.

On the other side was the ledge leading to the 'birdcage' from earlier. He stared at it before taking out his map. "No, no, hell no." He muttered as he looked through the paper. As much as he hated it, the cage lined up exactly with an area he could've gone on the first floor…he'd have to drop it. He climbed onto the base and drew his sword, cutting all three ropes holding up the base and falling straight down to the pool of lava below.

For an instant he saw that there was an archway before him and that holding up the stone he stood on were various curving stalactites, but only for an instant before a pillar of lava rose and sent him back up. "Oh shit!" He screamed in fear as he was launched from the very bottom of the room to the very top in mere moments.

When the lava stopped and he was allowed to fall again he immediately jumped into the archway before falling to his knees. "By the gods never let something like that surprise me again." He pleaded to whatever unseen entity would listen.

It took a minute for him to get a hold of himself before he stood and looked forward. There were two wooden platforms chained to the ceiling leading up to another ledge. He jumped from platform to platform until he was on the ledge where a ladder was. With a groan he climbed the ladder to the top…where he could see a dragon-like stone carving.

"What the hell?" He climbed up and walked before it where he saw a door in its maw. He smiled and walked into the door. The next area was just a pole hanging in the middle of the room over a pool of lava. Across from him was an empty area that he saw no point going to but to his right was another way. He swung from the pole and went right to see…more wooden platforms chained to the ceiling and hanging over lava. How exciting…

He jumped across the platforms and swung from a pole to reach a door. Once he passed it the next room was odd, well, more so than the rest of the volcano. It was a dome of sorts that had no lava, instead there was just another bug that seemed to be made of stone to make it treacherous. Aside from the bug there was a ornamented chest on a small golden platform…that was on fire…with a switch next to it. Concluding that he switch must do something he ran around the bug and stepped onto it, surprise surprise it made the fires go out. Once he stepped off of the switch however the fires returned. "Damn it!" He growled.

In a moment of genius, he stepped back into the switch and pulled out his Grappling Hook. Once the fires went out he tossed it and made it grab onto the chest's ornaments, with a harsh tug he used the item to force the chest open. He pulled the rope back before tossing the book into the chest and making it grab something. Once he pulled the rope back again he found himself in possession of a large key with an 'eye' for a handle.

He grinned and turned around to return to the top of the volcano, four floors up.

"…Fuck!"

* * *

><p>Naruto smiled once he finally stood before the door where he knew the large key he found would fit. It had taken an hour to climb back up but now that he would be able to do this it would all be worth it. He placed the key into the lock and turned it, making the lock spin before dissolving into darkness.<p>

"Naruto!" The blond turned around to see Medli, Komali, Quill, and the chieftain all flying over the lava to reach him.

He waved an arm with a tired grin. "What's up?" He asked.

Suddenly the door opened and an arm made of darkness flew out. It grabbed the blond and dragged him into the door before it closed.

The room he ended up in after being let go was simple. It was a dome with a large pool of lava in the center, and Wha he guessed was Valoo's tail hanging from the ceiling. The room began to shake and the lava churned. "What the hell is going on!?" The blond demanded.

Soon enough the cause made itself known. A massive version of the stone-like bugs breached from the lava and breathed out copious amounts of fire. It was glad in white armor that only failed to cover it's large blue eye and unlike the others had two large, scythe-like 'claws' to help it skewer him. It immediately swung it's claws at him and he jumped away. The fact that the class got stuck in the ground amazed and scared him. It was capable of piercing the ground so deep that it struggled to exit.

Naruto swallowed audibly and looked around for something to help him, but there was nothing! So once it freed it's claw he was stuck in game of cat and mouse that he couldn't possibly win. It went on forever to him, running and running around the room and only getting a short break when the monster couldn't pull it's claw out of the ground. That is, until one particular instance where it pierced he ground enough to take a full minute pulling the claw out. Once it finally managed to free itself it's claw flew into the air and hit Valoo's tail, at which point the dragon began thrashing and broke a section of the roof down onto the monster to crack it's shell.

Naruto grinned when the monster proved to be rattled and pulled out his Grappling Hook. He waited out the monster, throwing the hook to hit Valoo's tail each time he got a break. Eventually the monster's armor broke showing it was exactly like the other bugs, but still having claws.

"Great! It's armor's gone!" The blond exclaimed, then he frowned. "Now what?"

"Aim for its eye you idiot!" Tetra helpfully yelled at him.

…Oh wait.

"Tetra!" He exclaimed happily, "Is that how I kill this thing?"

"I have no clue, but it should do something!" The pirate yelled.

"Got it!" Naruto answered and proceeded to chuck the hook at the monster's eye. Thankfully it worked and the monster shrieked in pain, beginning to thrash around before slamming its head on the floor before him. Taking the chance at hurting the weakness the blond began to swing his sword at the eye with reckless abandon and before long the monster began to shriek again.

It was then that he was blindsided by once of the scythe-like claws that cut deep into his side and flung him away like a ragdoll. When he hit the wall a large crack resounded through the room as his arm broke. "…Fuck." He grunted out when he dropped to the floor.

"Naruto!" He heard Tetra yell.

He looked himself over and felt queasy. Blood was spilling down his left side, his right arm was broken…and a shadow looking over him said that the monster was about to eat him. He looked up and raised his sword in an act of defiance.

Some amazing stroke of luck guided his sword straight into the monster's eye as it dived down. It shrieked and repeated its earlier actions of thrashing before slamming down before him. Using whatever strength he had he climbed to his feet and stumbled his way before the eye, it stared straight at him up until the point where he lifted his foot and kicked the sword so deep into the eye that even the hilt disappeared.

Silence reigned for a few seconds before the monster let out a shriek unlike the ones before. Now it clawed at it's eye trying to force the sword out but only succeeded in hurting itself. Eventually it's body began to shadow from the bottom up until it reached the head. The body exploded into a shower of darkness launching the head to the opposite side of the room as him while the lava in the center of the room began to cool.

He heard the monster's head explode and drop his sword to the floor before hearing the door open. He laughed as he saw Medli and Komali run in before suddenly choking on air. An aura of pink surrounded him and pain worse than when he was flung moments ago exploded into being. He felt his broken arm reset itself as well as the cut in his side burn itself shut, after that he felt his bones crack from an unknown stress while his muscles stretched and tore before fixing themselves and beginning the process over and over again. It seemed like an eternity of pain and once it stopped, all he could do was pass out.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the wait, but I'm a procrastinator so I stopped writing a few times when I got bored or something else took my attention. I finished it though and now it's here! <strong>

**Anyway, time to answer some questions I know you'll all have. First is; why did I take Komali into Dragon Roost? Well, I kinda doubted that he would just give away Din's Pearl, something he got from his deceased grandma, to someone that allegedly climbed Dragon Roost. Even if it is Medli that says he did it he's bound to be a bit dubious. Even know he's not going to be ready to just give it to Naruto when he wakes up. **

**Next is why Naruto was taking care of monsters so easy when he hasn't really fought before? He comes from a long line of reincarnations of heroes that could solo armies of monsters. His mind is hardwired for fighting. **

**Finally is what the hell happened to Naruto at the end? Well…at the beginning you only have three 'hearts' of health, then when you get a heart container at Dragon Roost you have four 'hearts'. I had the thought that a heart container doesn't just make you live through more hits but strengthens you by a certain percentage. How long does it take for that to happen? About two seconds. Imaging all the work needed to strengthen yourself by a third of your full power being crammed into two seconds. Now add your bones being strengthened that much, a lot with your five senses, and thinking power. It would hurt like hell wouldn't it? And he's going to end up with twenty 'hearts' at the end so that's going to happen a lot.**


	5. Chapter 5

When Naruto awoke, it was with a groan and a pounding headache. "Ugh…what the hell happened?" He asked as he sat up in his bed. Wait…

He opened his eyes to find that he wasn't in his own bed back on Outset, rather he was in… "Is this Komali's bed?"

Before he could ponder why he was there the door opened and in walked a familiar girl who's eyes widened the moment she saw him. "Naruto!" She cried as she ran up to the bed and began checking him over.

"Medli…?" He muttered confusedly. "What's up?"

Medli froze at his words, slowly tilting her head upwards to look him in the eyes. "What's up…?" She repeated him stiffly, before she snapped out of the small trance and glared at him. "What do you mean 'what's up'?! You almost died again!" She chastised him.

"Again…?" He murmured before the events that happened shortly before he passed out flooded into his mind. "The monster!" He exclaimed as he looked around. "I…I killed it…right?"

"Yes." Medli verified with a scowl. "But you almost died again! If you hadn't gotten lucky and received that blessing before you passed out then you would've died! Your arm was broken, you were almost cut in half, and your head was bleeding again!"

"Blessing?" The blond asked before remembering the pain he felt before he passed out. "It didn't feel like a blessing. It felt like something was ripping me apart from the inside out!"

Medli sighed and decided to drop the subject of his second near-death experience, for now at least, to explain the phenomenon to him. "Blessings are…think of them as improvements." She began. "Each time you get a blessing your body is improved. You become stronger, faster-"

"Smarter?" Naruto interjected.

Medli gave him a mischievous smile. "Not really. You can think faster but you have to learn on your own." She answered. "You can hear and see better too. It makes you better for fighting monsters like the one that was tormenting the great Valoo." Her face fell after that. "You're not going to be fighting more monsters like that, are you?"

Naruto shrugged as he stood up, it was then that he noticed he was missing his shirt. "Who knows? If I run into one again then yeah." He replied. "If these 'blessings' really do what you say they do then I'll need as much of them as I can get, forget how much they hurt. Have you seen my shirt?"

Medli sighed but nodded as she produced the article of clothing and handed it to him. "Here. I washed it and fixed it."

Naruto smiled as he looked at his shirt. "It looks as good as new!" He remarked as he put it on, and it did look like it used to with the exception of a small line of stitches. "Thanks Medli."

"No no, it's the least I could do after all the help you've given us." The brunette girl denied hurriedly. "Thanks to you the great Valoo is calm now and no one was hurt…but you."

Seeing that she was beginning to be saddened by that fact Naruto gave her a cheerful smile. "It's fine Medli, I'm still alive aren't I?" Without waiting for a reply he continued. "As long as I make it through alive and can save my sister, who cares if I break a few bones or bust my head open?"

Medli have him a look of horror that screamed he said something wrong. "A…are you crazy?" She demanded. "You could die if that happens!"

"I never said I'm smart. I'm stupid, and a little crazy I guess, but that's never stopped me before." The blond answered as he led her out the door and down the hall. "I'm not afraid of dying for my sister's sake. I made a promise after all."

"Promise?" The brunette asked curiously.

"Yeah…my grandma died a few years back, but before she did she had me promise to protect my sister no matter what." He slowed to a stop halfway down the hall and chuckled mirthlessly. "You know…these clothes and a few pictographs back home are all I've got left of her besides my promise." He gave her a smile. "Really Medli, thanks for fixing my shirt."

"It was the least I could do, Naruto." Medli reiterated. "But I'm a bit sad that it's all I could do."

"Haha." Naruto began to laugh. "Is this going to be like on the top of Dragon's Roost? Should I go get you another feather?"

Medli blushed at the reminder of the feather he'd given her and shook her head vigorously. "No. You don't have to do that." She denied.

"Are you sure?" The blond joked. "I'll get you as many as you want!"

Medli's blush grew darker and she began to feel a bit flushed. "It's fine…" She murmured, glad that no one else was around to see her as she was.

"Still, since you liked that one feather so much I'll send you any if I find them." Naruto promised before he began to walk forward. "I'll see you later, I've got to go see your dragon for something!" He called back.

Medli blinked as he left and was about to give chase when she decided to first take a moment to compose herself.

…Or maybe she'd need a minute to sort of why she was so flushed.

* * *

><p>Naruto scowled as he stared at the crumbled stairs before him. "Right…those broke." He looked around thoughtfully. "How do I get up then?"<p>

As if to answer his call a strong whirlwind formed around him and shot him into the sky, at which point a heavy wind blew and knocked him onto the area before the dragon where a sudden updraft broke his fall. "_You are the human who relieved me of my stress, yes?_" A rumbling voice spoke to him. "_Is there something that you require?_"

Naruto slowly turned his head up to see the dragon staring straight down at him. It took him a long moment before he shakily asked, "Did…did you just talk?"

"_Yes, just as you are_." The dragon replied. "_Though I find it rare that anyone can understand my speech during these times…still, I can't say that I've tried to help. I've simply gotten too used to the Ancient Hylian language used during the era of the Hero of Time_." It's eyes narrowed upon the green-clad boy. "_Say…you remind me much of him. The same green clothes…the same blond hair…the same eyes filled with determination_."

Naruto grinned sheepishly at that. "Well I always wanted to be like the hero of legends…my grandma made me these clothes before she passed."

The dragon kept its narrowed eyes on him for a moment before slowly closing them. "_Quite_." It murmured. "_So what is it that you require of me?_"

Blinking, Naruto remembered his purpose for ascending the mountain again. "Oh yeah, I need something called 'Din's Pearl' from you. That's what the talking boat told me at least."

"_Ah yes. The 'King of Red Lions'._" The dragon recalled with a rumbling drawl. "_Well I'm sorry to say but I do not have it, I had given it to the Rito that acted as my interpreter before the one you know as Medli. It was never returned to me after she died, though I did see the child that arrived with you had taken it_."

"Child that was…" Naruto's eyes widened. "Komali? The pearl Komali's grandma gave him is Din's Pearl?!"

"Yeah…" A voice answered. Naruto whipped around to see Komali standing at the entrance he'd first come through holding Din's Pearl in his hands. "I heard what you said about needing it…" The prince said sadly.

After a moment Naruto grinned at the boy and waved him off. "It's alright. I'll find a way to make do what I have to do without it."

"_Impossible. Din's Pearl is absolutely necessary for the tasks that you will need to accomplish in order to defeat Gannon_." The dragon interjected.

Naruto's eye twitched for a moment before he palmed his face. "Fuck." He cursed.

"Here." Komali said as he held out the pearl. "Take it, but bring it back alright?"

Naruto looked up and slowly gave the boy a smile. "Alright. I promise I'll bring it back one day." He walked over and took the pearl before slowly placing it at the top of his Spoils Bag. To his shock the small pouch actually swallowed up the pearl without a problem.

"_Good. Now that you've retrieved Din's Pearl you must head south to the Forest Haven_." The dragon directed the blond. "_I must say that you will have much trouble heading south on a western wind…head to the bottom of Dragon Roost and seek out the Wind shrine. Learn what there is to be taught there and use it to traverse the waters._"

"Wind Shrine?" Naruto repeated to himself confusedly.

"I know where the shrine is." Komali offered. "It's at the back of the island, a little bit off of the entrance to my home."

"Huh…well now that I know where it is I might as well- whoa?!" Naruto suddenly yelped as another strong updraft sent him flying up off the mountain.

"_Good luck on your quest young hero!_" The dragon called, obviously the one to cause the draft.

"Fuck you!" Naruto yelled back.

XXX XXX

Just before Naruto crashed into the water and died a heavy updraft blew him up. He was forced to tumble in the air for a while until he actually landed on his feet on a small circular area in the water. It had a single Torii gate marking it as a shrine and two small monuments that were around his height, one of which was broken.

He checked the shrine that wasn't broken but besides some text that had faded away there were only three markings indicating three separate directions. Up, left, right.

Naruto scratched his head. _What the hell am I supposed to do with this?_ He wondered. After a moment he shrugged and decided to take out everything he had with him to see what might work. _Lets see…Din's Pearl? No. Grappling Hook? No. Sure as hell isn't Aryll's Telescope or the Picto Box Lenzo gave me. Not either of my bags so that just leaves… the Wind Waker._ He felt like hitting himself as he began to put everything but the small baton away. _'Wind Shrine', Wind Waker, how didn't I figure it out in two seconds?!_ He scolded himself.

He took a calming breath and conducted with the baton. Up, left, right. The moment he finished he heard an odd voice whisper in his ear. _North, East, South, West. Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest. Which path of wind shall help the best?_ It asked him.

The blond span around to find the source of the voice but found nothing, it was then that the voice repeated itself leaving him with nothing to do but answer. "Uhh…south?" He replied. At that moment the wind shifted and a draft began to blow in the direction he specified.

"Yep!" An old voice spoke up from beside him. "That's a mighty nice breeze!"

Naruto turned the the voice and jumped. Before him was a blue frog as large as he was! It had a white underbelly and purple rings on its back, with an antenna jutting out from the area between its eyes…it was also riding a fucking cloud!

"What the hell?!" The blond cried as he fell back.

The frog chuckled. "The name's zephos." It introduced itself while flying around him. "I'm the god of winds."

"God of-"

"So, you're the new Wind Waker, are you?" It interrupted him. "Fantastic! For a beginner, you've got a huge wind sense about you. I like you, kid!"

"Uhh, thanks?" Naruto said dubiously, before deciding to ignore the fact that he was talking to a frog and asking something he wanted to know. "What was that? What happened when conducted that?"

"That tune you just picked up?" Zephos asked. "Well, it gives you control over the direction the wind blows. Depending in how it's used, wind can be a good thing…or a very bad thing. You want an example of it being a bad thing, then you should see my brother."

"Brother?" Naruto muttered blankly.

Zephos nodded and flew around the broken monument. "It saddens me to say that my brother, Cyclos, is miffed about his monument here being broken, and now he spends his time creating cyclones to torment people with." It muttered sadly before shaking its head and flying over it's own monument. "So if you encounter any cyclones at sea, chastise my brother for me, will you? And _that_…is my request for you!" It said before flying away with a laugh at speeds that made it a blur.

Naruto stared after the god for a moment before lifting the Wind Waker to his view. "I'm borrowing power from a talking frog that flies on a cloud." He paused for a moment before sighing. "And now I have to find his brother and fight him. Just…great."

With another sigh he turned around and began to head back towards the King of Red Lions.

* * *

><p>"It would seem that Ganon sent those monsters to this place." The boat muttered as the blond walked up to it.<p>

"How did you know that there were monsters?"

"Valoo."

"How old are you?" Naruto asked incredulously. "That dragon said he spoke Ancient Hylian and I'm pretty sure that isn't something you can learn these days…wait a second…how did I understand what he was saying?!"

The boat shook its head. "There is no time to lose! We must depart at once for the place where the next pearl sleeps! We sail to the south!" It ordered.

"Naruto!" A familiar voice called as the climbed onto the boat.

Naruto grinned as he turned to face his friend. "Medli!" He paused at the other person who was with her. "And Quill?"

Quill nodded to the boy and held out a small bag. "The chieftain asked my to deliver this to you, as thanks for saving our people's way of living as well as helping the great Valoo."

Naruto took the bag and opened it to find something that shocked him. "A Silver Rupee?!" He exclaimed as he looked up to the postman.

Quill nodded. "Yes, while it does little to convey our gratitude I hope that it will suffice. If you ever so wish, please come back to Dragon Roost." With that he turned and headed off.

It was then that Medli spoke up with a small frown. "You're leaving already?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I have to hurry and save my sister!"

"I see…will you be coming back?" She asked hesitantly.

"Not for a while…but yeah." The blond replied excitedly. "I hope no one minds if I bring my sister when I do."

Medli smiled. "I'd like to meet your sister. So please, come back soon."

"Gotcha." He paused as he thought of something. "Hey Medli? You mind if I take a pictograph of you?"

"A pictograph?" The brunette asked. "Oh, you did have a picture box didn't you? What for?"

The blond grinned. "I'm thinking of taking a picture of one of the friends I make on every island I head to."

Medli smiled. "Alright."

Naruto took the picture and grinned. "Thanks Medli." Soon enough the sail hidden within his boat was out and they took off. "See you later!" He called back.

"Bye!"

After Naruto was out of hearing distance a new voice spoke up. "Smitten with a fool who can't see your feelings. I cannot say that I envy you."

Medli jumped a bit and turned around to see the chieftain standing there. "Chieftain…?" She paused and blushed at his words. "No, it's not-"

"Don't lie. I've seen that look in my wife's eyes when we were together before her…untimely passing. He didn't share the look that was within own eyes…he thought only of friendship while you think of love." The chieftain sighed and shook his head. "I wish you the best of luck in winning that boy's heart." He said as he turned and walked away.

Medli stared after him but sighed and soon followed while taking a glance in Naruto's direction.

Maybe she'd send him a letter.

XXX XXX

"'Hoy! Hold it there small fry!" A voice called from the side of Naruto's boat. The blond glanced at it and saw a fish swimming beside him. "I don't know where you got your mitts on that Sea Chart you got there…but it looks to me like its pretty much got nothing but seas drawn on it!" The blond glanced at his map and nodded. The map was bare of any islands besides his home island, Windfall Island, and the Forsaken Fortress' island. "It's pathetic! In fact, it's almost an insult to call that thing a Sea Chart, if you ask me!"

Naruto sighed irritably. "Well I don't have anything to draw islands on it."

"What's the matter, small fry? I'm just trying to be nice here!" The fish taunted him. "I'm tellin you that you've got a problem. And you do."

Naruto have the fish an incredulous look for insulting him so much. He'd just explained why he didn't have anything drawn on it.

"Don't give me that stupefied look! It makes you look like you oughta be in diapers!" Naruto growled making the fish seem to back off a little. "Just listen, okay? I'm here to teach you what I know about his island, so open up your Sea Chart! And make it snappy!"

Naruto grunted and held his Sea Chart out for the fish to view. He was given the shock of his life when the fish swam closer and suddenly had a brush in its mouth…with ink?! It began to draw on his map and by the time he collected himself it had already swam aside. "There!" It said with a grin as the blond looked at his map…to see a perfect drawing of Dragon Roost Island. At least he thought so considering it was so small and it matched what he saw when he was launched off the mountain decently well.

"How the fuck-?!"

The fish cut him off with a piece of information. "There's a real peculiar cave toward the backside of this here Dragon Roost Island." It closed its eyes and nodded to itself. "Yeah, real peculiar. But I doubt you'll ever get there to see it, small fry- unless you manage to sprout wings and fly, that is…'cause you won't be getting there otherwise!" It then began to swim away. "That's all I can teach you, small fry! But I will do this for you, since I'm feeling so generous: I'll send word to all my brethren living near the islands of the Grwat Sea. Good bunch of fish. If you see a fish leaping out of the water when you sail near an island, sail up to it and spread bait out on the water's surface. Trust me, this is good advice, fry."

"Thanks!" Naruto called out to the fish, he'd ignore it's constant insults about his height in exchange for the fact that it did something great for him.

"'Hoy! You there! You Kingly Red Lion guy!" It called to his boat. "That's it! I've repaid my debt! I'm done! You take care of the rest!"

"Repaid his debt?" Naruto asked the boat.

"…I don't want to talk about it." The boat answered.

"What happened?"

"The less you know the better!" The boat responded before going silent.

Naruto stared at the boat for a long moment before sighing. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>"So what's this island called?" Naruto asked as he had the King of Red Lions stop at an island halfway to their destination. It could hardly be called an island though. Only being made up of two tiny pieces of land in the sea, the larger of which had a stone statue in its center.<p>

"Hmm…if I recall, this is the East Triangle Island." The boat answered. "You would to well to remember this place, we will need to come back in due time."

"Right." Naruto nodded. He then looked around to see something amazing, other people! He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to them though…they wore nothing but a metal helmet and speedos. He shivered in disgust at the sight. He was interested in the boat they were on though…it had a machine on it that had a long line of rope dropped into the water.

"Ya!" One of the men called to him, the one that seemed to be working the machine and sailing. "Mighty-fine boat you got there, bub. You must be searching for treasure on the sea floor, too. Aren't you?"

"Treasure?" The blond asked, but then shook his head. "No, I didn't even know there was any treasure down there." He looked down at the water before looking back to the men. "Do you guys actually have any?"

The speedos made him doubt that.

The man he was previously talking to laughed boisterously. "You won't get any from us, bub! Not likely!"

"Wh-? I don't want any-"

"Lemme ask you something real quick: Who wanders around on a fishless sea?" Before Naruto could answer, or get angry at being interrupted, he continued. "I'll tell you who, bub: Only pirates, monsters, and treasure hunters like ourselves! And maybe some other things that I've never heard of…" The other men nodded at that. "Y'know, with all the weak island dwellers who never leave their shores, I'm amazed to see such a tiny little guy out here."

"You son of a-!"

The man chuckled at Naruto's anger. "I like your style, bub! I feel like I've known you my whole life! So hey, bub, tell you what! As one treasure hunter to another, I'll give you this…you'll definitely be needing it if you want to haul up treasure." After that he pulled a rolled-up blue paper from…somewhere and tossed it to Naruto, which the wind actually carried to the boy.

Naruto opened the paper once he grabbed it out of the air and was promptly confused. "How do I use this?" It didn't look like any type of map he'd ever seen.

"You have a Sea Chart don't you, bub? Just open your it and compare it to the Island Charts!" The man directed.

"Oh…" Naruto muttered as he unfurled his map and looked at it…wait. "What's an Island Chart?"

"What's an-? Are you kidding me bub?! Just focus on an island and the map will do the rest!"

Following the man's instructions Naruto focused on Dragon Roost Island's position on his map, where he came to find out that the fish had indeed drawn a perfect copy of Dragon Roost! He quickly looked through the four islands he could compare with and found that none of them had a match for the treasure map. He sighed but admitted he didn't have much options anyway. "Thanks!"

"You'll still need something to pull things up with!" The man informed him. "Well, little treasure buddy, good luck to all of us! Happy hunting!" He called as he directed his boat away.

Naruto smiled as he began to sail away towards the his destination. "Hey…he didn't call me 'bub' that last time." He muttered. Maybe they weren't all that bad.

If anything he knew that the island was better than the small volcano of lava he passed before it.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that it's so short even though I took more than a week on it, but this is just filled and setting some things up for later.<strong>


End file.
